


A Knight and a Scoundrel

by Riza_B



Category: RWBY
Genre: Enemies to Friends to Lovers, Fix-It, Multi, Slow Burn
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-01-07
Updated: 2021-02-09
Packaged: 2021-03-18 00:07:54
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, Major Character Death
Chapters: 7
Words: 47,084
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28608789
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Riza_B/pseuds/Riza_B
Summary: Cannon Divergent: After the Fall of Beacon, Neopolitan and Jaune Arc are both thrown into an uncaring world, lost in their pain and anger towards Cinder Fall. RNJR discover an unexpected ally in an old enemy. The road to Mistral will take months, and it's difficult to undergo alone. But after all of that time, maybe two fates will have something in common.
Relationships: Blake Belladonna/Yang Xiao Long, Jaune Arc/Neopolitan, Lie Ren/Nora Valkyrie, Qrow Branwen/Summer Rose, Ruby Rose/Weiss Schnee
Comments: 24
Kudos: 86





	1. Chapter 1

A Knight and a Scoundrel

Chapter 1.1: The Language of Flowers

Jaune Arc

It had been just a few days since RNJR left Higanbana, and two months since they left Patch. Jaune thought about their friends while they walked along the quiet road. Yang had been doing a little better when they left, getting out of bed most days at least. They still hadn’t heard from Blake or Weiss in all that time though. He hoped they were all doing alright.

Ruby suddenly stopped and pointed to something in the distance. “Oh, I see it! Look!”

“See what?” Jaune nearly tripped trying to stop in time.

Ruby looked down at their map timidly, “Uh, Ren?”

Ren leaned over her shoulder. “Tsubaki village.”

Ruby looked back up with renewed vigor, “Tsubaki village!”

“Another village? I love not sleeping outside!” Nora broke into a light jog.

“Didn’t you just say last night that you love camping?” Jaune asked, trying to keep pace.

“That was before I knew there was a village so close by silly! Beds, new foods, bathrooms!”

\---

RNJR arrived in the village just before dusk. There were only a few buildings spaced out in two rows, all surrounded by walls. It wasn’t comparable to Higanbana, but Jaune figured it was something at least

The largest building in town was a thin, three story Inn. If it wasn’t for the sparce candlelight coming through the windows, it could have looked abandoned. The interior was much more inviting. A fireplace fought the rainy weather outside to keep the room warm and lit.

A short, elderly woman sat at a desk across from the fireplace. She gave the group a kind smile and welcomed them over. “Please come inside and dry off. Are you looking for rooms?”

“Four please, if you have the space.” Ruby replied.

“That shouldn’t be a problem. Most of our rooms are available, we don’t get very many travelers this time of the year. You all are academy students, right? We offer a much lower rate to huntsmen and huntresses in training.”

“Yes ma’am. From- “. Jaune suddenly felt a lump in his throat, like he couldn’t get himself to say the name.

“From Vale. We’re on our way to Mistral now.” Nora saved him.

The woman pulled down four sets of keys from the cabinet behind her. “It’s horrible what happened there. I’m so sorry.” She turned back around and handed the keys to Ruby. “You needn’t worry about a thing while you’re here, our guards tell us there’s been fewer Grimm around lately, actually.”

Ruby thanked the woman and paid for their rooms.

She led them from the lobby down a thin hallway. “Oh, here you are, rooms four through seven are all yours.” She turned to leave, but quickly faced them again. “There’s a young woman staying in room twelve upstairs, she’s from Vale too, you might know her. She seemed to be a huntress in training as well.” She paused for a moment, “At least, she helps the guards fight off Grimm. She’s been here so long and in a sorry state; familiar faces could do the girl some good.” She turned again and left.

Jaune looked to his team. “Who would come out to Anima alone? Someone we know?”

Ren shrugged his shoulders. The others didn’t know either.

“Maybe after we get settled, we should check it out?” Ruby offered.

Jaune agreed. He couldn’t stop thinking about it as he unpacked his things, removed his armor, and washed his face. If it was anyone from Beacon, he could only imagine what she was going through. But he supposed he could understand. If he had lost everyone that night, he would have run as far as he could too.

The group met back up in the hallway a little later.

Ruby giggled at Jaune’s hoodie as they walked up the flight of stairs to the second floor. She knocked softly at the door labeled ‘twelve’ and looked back at Jaune, “I can’t get over the bunny, it’s just so cute!”

After a moment, the door swung open. Jaune didn’t recognize the girl, but the stance Ruby took meant /she/ might.

“Neopolitan”

Ren looked over to Nora. “Who?”

Nora put up her fists, ready to throw a punch. “The girl who beat Yang on that train, remember?”

Jaune vaguely remembered the descriptions team RWBY had given them about Roman Torchwick and Neopolitan, but what he could see fit. She had equally divided pink and brown hair, with eyes to match. She looked taken aback at first, then tried to size the group up, probably trying to figure out why they were at her door.

Nora took a step closer. “Have you been following us from Patch? Vale?”

Ruby replied without looking away “No, the woman downstairs said she’s been here awhile. Why are you here? Is this part of Cinder’s plan too?”

The girl’s surprised expression soured when Cinder was mentioned. Jaune felt the same way.

“Then what, you just happen to be in Anima?” Nora still wasn’t backing down.

Neopolitan rolled her eyes and walked back into her room. She picked up her parasol and pointed at the map taped to her wall. Its tip landed on Mistral.

If she had been trying to get there, Jaune figured she must have taken a similar route to theirs from Vale. He stared at the map, trying to figure out what was happening. “Why are /you/ going there?”

She suddenly transformed into an exact copy of Cinder Fall, then returned to her original appearance, a determined expression on her face.

Just seeing Cinder made Jaune upset. He squeezed the sash around his hips, balling up the loose end and letting it go again.

Everyone else seemed to relax slightly. Nora lowered her fists.

Ruby stepped forward this time, into the doorway. “Back at Beacon… Torchwick said you were working with Cinder because you couldn’t afford not to. That you needed to be on the winning side. That there wasn’t a way to stop her. But I’m proof that we can stop Cinder! And whoever she’s working with. We’re heading to Mistral too, to find whoever that is and put a stop to /all/ of this. I know you hate the kingdoms and we’ve been on different sides, but we don’t have to be!”

“Ruby…” Ren put a hand on Ruby’s shoulder.

Neopolitan turned her parasol over in her hands. For a moment Jaune wondered if she would agree, until she used the hooked handle to grab the knob and slam her door closed.

Ruby had jumped out of the way just in time. She turned to the rest of RNJR with a defeated look. “Come on, we should go.”

\---

RNJR regrouped in Ruby’s room. Nora was the first to break the silence. “Well, I personally was expecting… really anyone else.”

Ruby sat on the floor and leaned against her bed. “She must blame Cinder for what happened to Torchwick. I don’t know why else she’d be after her too.”

Ren nodded. “But she doesn’t want to stop whoever Cinder is working for or save the kingdoms. She just wants revenge.”

Nora sat down too. “Even if those are her motives, I don’t know if I trust her.”

Jaune tried to piece together everything they had just learned. Roman Torchwick had been a serious criminal in Vale, but never directly opposed the kingdoms before Cinder and the White Fang got involved. Ruby told them that he was eaten by a Grimm during the attack on Beacon. And if his allegiance to Cinder was flimsy in the first place, maybe Ruby was right to offer an alliance to Neopolitan. But revenge? That he could empathize.

A Knight and a Scoundrel

Chapter 1.2: Both Windowsill and Precipice

Neopolitan

Swirling skies. Gnashing teeth and ripping claws. Neo reached out but everything is so far out of reach. The wind kept her drifting further and further away until all that was left is a ball of fire below her. She wanted to scream, but nothing came out. All she could do is hold on, until she couldn’t anymore. The Grimm below were waiting with a starved hunger, paced in circles, cheerfully ready to devour her whole.

Neo jolted awake and frantically looked around the room for the creatures in her nightmare. Her heart threatened to pound out of her chest as she sat up to catch her breath. Her blankets and pillows were strewn about the floor. She wrapped the softest one around herself and stared out the window from her bed.

Daylight. The produce stand across the street. The village wall. Rows of trees. An Anima forest. Tsubaki village. Her room at the inn.

She took a deep breath and squeezed her eyes shut. Her heart slowly stopped racing. After some time, the world calmed down.

Reflexively, Neo reached out to her nightstand. The hard felt of Roman’s bowler hat and soft silk of its red liner helped her feel better. Not good. But better. Angry. She opened her eyes, brushed off the hat, and set it back down.

They never should have been in that school in the first place. They had all they needed from those dust robberies. More than they’d ever had before. She set her jaw. Clenched her fist and slammed it into her bedframe. They /never/ should have trusted Cinder.

And now the Beacon students had found her. Neo fell over back into the bed, resting her bruised hand against the cool plaster wall. How did they just so happen to find her, anyway?

She laid in bed for a few more minutes before huffing and rolling out. She grabbed her pants from the bathroom door and slipped them on, running her hands over the holes in its busted knees. They had been such nice dress pants.

Tick. Tick-tick. The light tapping came from her window. Neo huffed and pulled the blanket back on before investigating. Sitting on the outside ledge was a small crow. Neo opened the window and sat at the desk nearby. She looked at the animal expectantly, it had asked to be let in in the first place, after all. But it just cawed at her. Like it wanted something.

Neo grabbed a leftover piece of bread from her cold, half eaten dinner and offered it to the bird. It cawed again and flew away.

She tossed the bread back onto the plate it came from. She hadn’t been all that hungry for it either. She didn’t blame the bird.

She looked at the map of Anima now in front of her. She looked at Mistral. Then Tsubaki. She’d made it this far almost three months ago. Her injuries had healed after a few weeks but something kept her in the village. Some part of her just thought it would be easier. Then the routine of it all made the days fade together. The innkeeper, Fleur, brought food and was always so thankful whenever Neo had helped fight off a pack of Beowolves. She was nice.

But. Mistral wasn’t getting any closer. Cinder was only getting further away from her. But if the Beacon students were here, she thought she was at least heading in the right direction. Especially if they knew more than she did.

Neo sighed and got up to close the window but a group of armed men walking into town caught her eye. They marched into the village square just below her, where the leader pulled out a pistol and fired three shots into the ground. Residents started coming out of their homes and looking through windows. Fleur walked out, demanding to know what was going on.

“We’re just here to collect on the taxes you all owe us. For protection, you see.” The leader shoved Fleur back, pointing his pistol at her.

“We don’t owe you anything! And when our guards – “

The lead bandit laughed. “Oh, we took care of your guards. Gave them the day off already.”

“Leave her alone!” The tall boy from last night walked into view. He was wearing white and gold armor over the same hoodie as before. How appropriate.

The bandits got closer. The four others drew their weapons. “Or what?”

“Or we’ll make you leave her alone.” That time it was Little Red, using the same tone she had always used before.

Neo couldn’t tell who shot first, but the street suddenly erupted in a full-on battle. Gunshots and the sound of metal scraping metal echoed through the town.

It looked like the Beacon students had it all handled at first. The redhead took out a bandit in a single swing of her hammer, sending him flying off outside the walls. Even the knight seemed to be fighting well, blocking every hit his opponent threw and landing good blows. But the fighting must have tipped off their friends in the woods that the shakedown wasn’t going well, because half a dozen more came running into town behind them.

Neo threw off her blanket, pulled on her boots, and grabbed Hush from the bed. She climbed over the windowsill and leapt out onto the street, landing on the back of a bandit to slow her descent, knocking him to the ground. A quick kick and jab from Hush kept him there.

The next one lunged at her with a bow staff. She knocked it to the side with her parasol and kicked him in the chest. When he stumbled back, she followed up with a turning kick to his jaw. His aura broke and he fell to the ground next to his friend.

Another bandit raised a rifle-axe at her. She pulled up Hush and clicked open the parasol. A blast of fire and lightning dust smacked into it a moment later. Neo ran at him, spun, and extended Hush again just as she jabbed him in the chest. The parasol forced the rifle out of his hands, letting her land a hit to his face with its handle, and a kick to the gut to drop him.

Neo whipped around towards the inn to take on the next bandit but there weren’t any left.

Instead, the Beacon students were staring at her. The redhead and the green ninja looked confused, Little Red looked impressed, and the knight looked stunned.

He was the first to speak. “Wow. That was… thank you.”

Neo wasn’t expecting appreciation. Not from him.

Fleur came out of the inn again, equally stunned. “Thank you all so much, we don’t know what we would have done without you!”

Neo closed Hush and walked back inside, patting Fleur’s arm on the way in. She could hear Little Red shout something after her, but Neo didn’t stick around to hear it. She went straight up the stairs and landed face first back in bed.

\---

On cue, Fleur knocked on her door at 6 o’clock. She set the tray down on Neo’s table and picked up the tray from the previous night. She looked sadly at the half-eaten stew and set it aside. “I was talking to those students downstairs earlier, you know.”

Neo tilted her head back and lightly hit it against the wall. Here it comes, she thought.

“They’re leaving for Mistral tomorrow. Mistral! On foot! Can you believe that? It’s such a long journey, especially now. After seeing them fight today though, I’m glad they at least have each other. They seem like a capable bunch, don’t you think?”

Neo huffed and tilted her head back down to look at Fleur.

She was picking up some of the clothes and bedding on the floor and laying them back on Neo’s bed. “I think it’s a romantic idea though, full of adventure. In my youth I would have gotten right up and went with them. Especially with that handsome young man in the armor! Oh, but I’m too old for that now. Have customers to attend to, you know. Seeing you fight those bandits today sure was something though! I don’t think I’ve ever seen you fight, but the stories Vert told me sure were accurate!”

Neo turned to look at Fleur. She signed *Is Vert okay?*

Fleur waved Neo away. “Don’t you worry. They just had all the guards tied up back at their camp. Those kids found them and brought them all right back to us, safe and sound.” She finished with the clothing and couldn’t find anything else to distract herself with. Finally, she went out to the hallway to pick up a brown paper wrapped box and handed it to Neo. Without another word she picked up the old tray and walked out of the room.

Neo looked the box over. A note was written on the side. ‘Just in case you have any sudden adventuring to do, I thought you could use some of these. Keep them if you want them. I know you appreciate the same styles of my younger days.”

Neo opened the box and pulled out a freshly pressed white dress shirt tailored to her size. With it lay a black pair of suspenders, a tube of mascara, a pair of white driving gloves trimmed with pink, and a pair of heeled, white hiking boots.

Neo put the box down on her bed and smiled, thinking about the crafty old woman downstairs.

\---

Another night, another nightmare. But this time at least her scroll’s alarm woke her up before they could.

Neo showered, dried her hair, and leaned against the sink, staring at herself in the mirror. She was searching for something in her reflection but didn’t know what. She sighed and tied her hair back into a low bun, but a good amount of it still hung to her shoulder blades. She grabbed a pair of scissors and lopped off the remaining length. It just got in the way.

She wondered what Roman would have thought about this. Obviously, he wouldn’t have approved. But they had a better idea where Cinder was. And that was enough of a reason.

Neo went back to her room and sat on the bed, taking in the space she’d been staying in for the past few months. She pulled on her same torn pants and pink crop top, then turned to the box sitting on her desk. The shirt fit perfectly, just like she expected it would. She cuffed the sleeves at her elbows, tucked it into her pants and left it unbuttoned half-way. The boots fit perfectly too, even if they didn’t have the height she would normally prefer, she understood the practicality. The suspenders were a nice touch. But the gloves were her favorite. Silky smooth and exactly her style. She put on Roman’s hat and packed the rest of her belongings.

She met Fleur downstairs. The woman had a knowing smile on her face and ordered Neo to spin around for her. She clapped when she saw her handiwork. “You look wonderful!”

*Thank you, for everything*

Fleur signed back *You’re welcome*

It wasn’t long until the Beacon students came out ready to leave. Little Red froze when she noticed Neo ready to depart with them. “Does this mean, you changed your mind?”

Neo rolled her eyes and pulled out her scroll. She typed up a quick message and showed it to Little Red. {Only as far as Mistral}


	2. Chapter 2

A Knight and a Scoundrel

Chapter 2.1: Awkward Silences

Jaune Arc

(One week later)

Jaune put away his scroll as he walked back to their camp. The sun was only just starting to rise, giving off barely any more light than the dying embers of their fire. He placed more wood on top of the embers, put away Crocea Mors, and started looking through his bag. Metal stand, frying pan, spatula, water, freeze-dried eggs.

He sat back down on his bedroll and looked up at the fading stars. Ruby had thought the trip would take a few weeks, at most. It was more like another five months, by his estimate. The roads were mostly easy, but the pure distance on foot made it hard. And all the villages that needed help on the way. Outside of the main kingdom, it was rare that a village didn’t have their own issues. And seeing four capable fighters come into town usually meant work. But work meant helping better peoples’ lives and sometime free food.

The fire started to come back to life, so Jaune set up the metal stand and placed the frying pan over it.

Five. Not four. Jaune looked over at Neo, sleeping noticeably further away than everyone else. After fighting those bandits, Ursa, and a King Taijitu, He was starting to get a sense for her fighting style. But besides that, he didn’t know much about her.

He sighed and went back to making everyone breakfast. Ren had found wild green onions the evening before. Jaune added them to the pan. Everyone starting to stir at the smell of cooking food made Jaune smile. There were a few things he was always good at.

Nora was the first awake. She nearly tore her way out of her sleeping bag to get closer to the pan. “What a beautiful morning! Jaune’s making food, the birds are chirping, Jaune’s making food, I slept great, the fire’s warm, and Jaune is making food! Ren wake up!”

Ren rolled over in his bag. “Nora. Jaune does this every morning. I know.”

Ruby woke up soon after. She seemed to have gotten used to sleeping through Nora’s antics. “Jaune, you don’t have to keep doing this!”

“I was already awake.” Not technically a lie. “Besides, I don’t mind. It’s easier to just make a lot all at once anyway.” He started taking out plates and utensils. He gave Ren, Ruby, and himself a hearty amount to keep them energized for the day. Portioned off Neo’s, then scooped the rest onto Nora’s plate.

Jaune picked up Neo’s and walked it over to her. He wasn’t sure if she was awake yet. He had tried to put a little bit more on her plate than usual. She never seemed to have an appetite. It was starting to worry him.

She opened her eyes as he approached her sleeping bag. Jaune awkwardly smiled as he placed the plate down next to her. “Made breakfast. You’re welcome to come eat by the fire with us, if you want.” He offered every meal. And she always declined.

Jaune returned to the fire with the others. “So, where to today Ruby?”

Ruby put down her food to open their map. “It looks like the next village towards Mistral is…. Suisen! But that’s still a long way away. I think Tsubaki is going to be it for towns for a while.”

Ren looked up from his bowl. “Suisen’s a mining town. It should be well protected from Bandits and Grimm.”

Jaune thought back to Tsubaki, and the other villages that had been attacked by bandits. It made him angry. Angry that someone would take advantage of the CCT outage and attack settlements that could barely hold off Grimm.

“It looks like we have a few mountains to go up and over, but that shouldn’t be too bad!” Ruby folded the map back up and placed it in her bag.

Neo finally joined them, offering most of her breakfast to Nora, who happily accepted. She sat down next to the fire and warmed her hands.

Ren looked off towards the mountains they would be traveling over. “It looks like we shouldn’t have any problems with the weather. We don’t want to be on the mountains in a thunderstorm”  
  
Nora perked up, her mouth still full, “maybe /you/ don’t!”

Neo looked lost in the joke. Jaune explained Nora’s semblance, then Ren’s and Ruby’s. She looked at him with a cocked eyebrow when he finished.

“Oh, I uh. I don’t know what my semblance is.”

Nora chimed in. “Not yet! Were sure he’ll figure it out any day now!”

Jaune always appreciated her optimism on the topic. He secretly hoped it would be something that could help him fight Cinder. Which meant he really did need it to come through soon.

They packed up camp after breakfast and headed toward the first mountain. Again, Neo trailed behind the group by a few paces.

Ruby seemed to be at a crossroads of wanting to make a new friend and still weary of the criminal she fought at Beacon. Nora was less skeptical than before, but that was probably because Neo gave her anything she didn’t eat. Ren seemed the most unsure still.

Jaune wasn’t entirely sure how he felt about her yet. The stories Ruby and Yang had told him made Neo out to be a vicious fighter and a criminal. But the only version of her he had seen so far was the girl who jumped out of a second-story window and fought off bandits to protect an inn. She even seemed kind to the innkeeper there. Now she mostly just followed them from campsite to campsite and killed Grimm when she needed to. So, which one was the real Neopolitan? All of them? None?

\---

They had just started their hike up the towering mountain when Ren held out his hand, motioning them all to stop.

Jaune drew his sword from his shield, “What is it?”

Ren looked into the forest, just off of the winding dirt road. “Grimm. A lot of them.” He pointed into the forest.

Jaune stepped forward, putting his shield up in the direction Ren had pointed. Ruby launched herself backwards to ready Crescent Rose as a rifle. The other three stood somewhere behind Jaune.

Jaune scanned the forest but couldn’t see anything through the trees. The silence turned into a soft hum. Then he suddenly heard gravel crunch from behind just before his legs were swept from under him. A massive boney stinger flew through the spot he used to be as he fell to the ground.

Neo suddenly stood over him, her parasol extended to block the coming stingers. She pointed two fingers up into the canopy. That’s why he hadn’t seen them. Lancers stay up high.

Jaune got back to his feet and tried to take in what was happening. A swarm of Lancers were coming out of the trees and flying high above them. The air was filled with the loud buzzing of their wings as harpoons began raining from the sky.

“Nora, Ruby, you shoot down the Lancers! Neo and I will cover you. Ren cloak yourself, as soon as those harpoons hit something, cut them loose!” He looked over at Neo, she gave him a nod.

Everyone took their positions. Ruby and Nora could drop a lancer after a few shots. Meanwhile, Neo and Jaune tried to parry the harpoons into the ground, or at least away from their allies. Ren ran around the group, slicing the tethers. It wasn’t long before all of the Grimm had lost their stingers.

Jaune breathed a sigh of relief. Now the insects had to get close, and their team was well adapted to that. They were able to spread out and face the Lancers one at a time. Jaune and Neo switched to the offensive. They all began cutting through the Grimm. One after another the creatures tried to tear at them with razor sharp mandibles but met their ends instead. It didn’t take long for the road to be littered with the fallen bodies.

The final Lancer dove towards the group but was unceremoniously crushed by Nora’s Magnhild. Its legs twitched as its body evaporated into black smoke. Nora beamed from ear to ear.

“Did you see that? I shot one right through its eye! One shot! Oh, tell me someone saw that!” Ruby shouted as she pointed into the air.

“Uh, yes! That was so awesome! Did you see the way I absolutely crushed that one at the end?” Nora confirmed. The two of them kept building off of each other’s energy.

Jaune normally would have joined in, congratulating them on their work and fawning over what they accomplished, but he had to do something first. He found Neo looking over her weapon. She closed it and looked up at him.

“Thank you, for saving me back there. How did you know they would do that?”

Neo gave him a light smile and pointed to her ear.

Jaune realized he had heard a soft humming sound before the attack. He hadn’t faced a Lancer before, everything he knew about them was from Professor Port’s class. “I’ll have to remember that! Well, thank you again, I don’t think I could have covered everyone al- “

“Are you guys coming or what?” Nora shouted back from the road ahead of them. “We have a mountain to climb here!”

A knight and a Scoundrel

Chapter 2.2: Two Truths and a Lie

Neopolitan

The mountain road was switchback after switchback in deep woods. It felt like they could walk most of the day and not make any progress upward. Neo wondered if Grimm were less likely to attack a group. Their trip had been noticeably safer than the first leg of her journey. Safer was the wrong word; the Beacon students never seemed to avoid conflicts with Grimm when they did show up, and instead ploughed through them.

Eventually the road leveled off and circled around to the other side of the mountain. The view into the valley below was beautiful. Watching the road snake its way down into the valley and then up the mountain on the far side was more disheartening.

Nora dropped to her knees. “Why? Why would they build the road like this? What evil master-mind is behind this?”

Jaune walked up behind Nora and touched her shoulder. “We’ll just have to stay strong!”

The group was a lot less serious or structured than Neo first realized. She had a hard time imagining these children as the same ones she saw fight off Grimm. Or the one’s that had tried to stop Roman’s dust heists.

Ren and Little Red compared their map to the road before agreeing to set up camp for the night.

She got Little Red’s attention, picked up a twig, twirled it in her hand, then nodded towards the woods. She needed time to herself and offering to collect firewood seemed like a good enough excuse.

The woods were thick and overgrown. Her quiet footsteps meant the forest was alive with the sounds of nesting squirrels and birds flying to their roosts. Neo felt safe in these woods. If the animals were making noise, there weren’t predators around. There weren’t /Grimm/ around.

Finding suitable branched for firewood wasn’t hard. It only took a few minutes to collect enough. She laid them in a pile and sat beneath a tree.

What had her life become? No part of it had ever been easy. But this? Following a bunch of childish Grimm hunters in training through Anima just for the chance to get back at Cinder? She almost preferred living on the Argus streets. She took off Roman’s hat and turned it around, almost like she was still looking at him. Waiting for him to tell her what she should do.

She leaned her head back against the tree. Little Red wasn’t awful. The girl had tried to make her feel welcomed. Said their new name was Ranger, but with two N’s. Whatever that meant. But there was still hesitation. Neo could feel it too. The last time they had seen each other was at the Fall of Beacon. And Little Red had just thrown her off a battleship.

Ren and Nora seemed easy to understand. Ren was a quiet boy and the most level-headed of the group. Nora was the most excitable. They fought well too. She didn’t think they particularly cared for her but weren’t opposed to her either.

Jaune was the hardest to place. He was like Fleur a bit. Trying too hard. fussing over everything. Making sure everyone else was taken care of first. In her experience, people were rarely genuinely like that. He was almost as idealistic and immature as Little Red and lacked the same level of combat ability as the others. His strategies against the Grimm worked well at least. And he had thanked her for getting him out of the way of that Lancer’s stinger.

Neo sighed and ran her hand over Roman’s hat again. She’d give anything to go back before Mountain Glenn. Convince him to run with the dust. Start over in Vacuo. Anything but going along with the White Fang and Cinder.

But they couldn’t. He was taken into Atlesain custody. She broke him out. He destroyed the other battleships and they uploaded Cinder’s virus, just like she wanted. Then their job was done. And if the Grimm killed them, they were more loose ends tied up.

She’d been gone long enough, and it was getting dark. She put his hat back on and grabbed the firewood.

Nora’s loud screams lead her back to the campsite. “ -actually the exact noise that an Ursa makes, Ren!”

Neo walked out of the woods to find Nora running around the newly lit tinder and making poorly imitated Grimm noises.

Little Red looked up at her as she walked back into the camp. “Jaune’s making soup.” She said it like it was a perfect explanation for what was happening.

Jaune was kneeling by the fire, setting up a large pot. “It’s mostly just lentils. And some spices, I guess? Thank you for getting all that! You can just put them down, anywhere is fine.” There he went thanking her again.

Neo dropped the wood and left to set up her bedding. She quietly watched them while they went about their night. Nora and Little Red took turns making up stories or telling jokes. Ren would chime in to add details or corrections. Jaune cooked and laughed at their antics. Sometimes he’d tell the occasional story.

When the sun finally fully set, Neo hugged her knees and watched the stars. It had been nearly a lifetime since she’d lived outside of the big cities. The stars in the wilderness twinkled and shined like the ones in Vale never could. She knew exactly when the food was ready, because she could hear Nora suddenly go quiet, but she kept looking up at the stars anyway until Jaune came to get her.

“Neo? The soup’s ready, if you’d like some.”

Neo looked past him, towards the others. They had started sitting around the fire leaving a deliberate space for her. She didn’t know why that frustrated her just a little.

She finally looked at Jaune and nodded. She stood up and walked with him back to the fire. It was warm. The soup smelled earthy and a bit like rosemary. She sat down in her spot, ready for the awkward silence to come.

But it didn’t.

“So anyway…” Nora started again, pointing her spoon at Neo, “You’ll like this one! There we were, in the middle of the night.”

Ren was looking into the fire. “It was day.”

“Surrounded by Deathstalkers”

“They were Beowolves.”

“There were hundreds of them!”

“Two”

“But they were no match. And in the end, Ren and I took them down and made a fortune of lien selling their carapaces!”

Ren looked up at Neo. “It gets more outrageous every time she tells that dream.”

Jaune nudged Nora. “I prefer the version where you fought off five giant Nevermores with your bare hands, and sold the feathers to buy your own school.”

“Oh that one is good too! But it wasn’t five Jaune, that’d never make us enough money to buy a school, it was more like twenty!” Nora argued with him matter-of-factly.

Neo had to give them some credit. They at least knew how to keep their spirits up.

After dinner she listened to their stories a bit longer. Little Red and Nora fell asleep while Jaune was explaining his encounter with a Beowolf in his Grimm Studies class trip. Ren helped him get the others to their bags and fell asleep soon after. She was about to leave when Jaune cleared his throat.

“Hey, uh, Neo? Would you, happen to know how to sign? It’s just, I realized recently how little I- we know about you. My sister downloaded a bunch of different lessons and things to my scroll when I told her I was going away for school. One of them was an elective language instructor. I only just started, and haven’t picked up all that much yet, but I thought maybe it could- “

Neo put up her hand so he could stop. She thought he had been trying hard before, but this was just another level. Roman was the only other person who had taught themselves to sign for her. She nodded and signed *thank you*, hoping he knew that already.

Jaune smiled, repeating it back.

At that, Neo got up and left for her bag. She pulled the cover over her head and slunk as low as she could into it. Who were these people? Why were they treating her like this? After everything, how could they even try? 

\---

Jaune was an incredibly fast learner. With nightly lessons, by the time they made it down to the valley and up the other side of the next mountain, he was already holding conversations. His lip reading wasn’t too bad either. He still had more to learn, but Neo thought it was impressive regardless. He had even started to teach the others a few important phrases here and there. They didn’t pick up on it as quickly.

Traveling with the group had started to feel more normal. Having someone to talk to made her feel less like an outsider. When he wasn’t being an idiot.

“I don’t know Nora. I think plain pancakes with Pecan syrup is the best.”

Nora started walking backwards while she continued their argument. “No Jaune, chocolate chip pancakes, whipped cream, and maple syrup; the way the Gods intended!”

Neo looked over at Jaune. *What about blueberry?*

Jaune’s expression fell. “Neopolitan. I’m going to pretend I don’t know what you just said.”

“Was that ‘blue’? Did she just vote blueberry? Those are fighting words!” Nora’s expression turned the most stern and serious she had seen yet.

Ren called out from the front of the line. “When we get to Suisen, I’ll see if they have what we need in the market and I’ll make some for everyone, how about that?”

Little Red turned around quickly before Ren could see. She whispered ‘waffles’ towards Nora.

That was, apparently, the worst thing to have said. Nora tackled Little Red to the ground. They rolled down the path ahead of the group, then out of sight behind the next switchback. By the time the rest of the group found them, they were locked in a dangerous stalemate.

Ren had to pull them apart and threaten not making anything for them to settle down.

Neo nudged Jaune to look at her. *Is this normal?*

“Sometimes. Other times Ruby says savory breakfasts are superior and Ren can’t even break those up. We just have to let them fight it out. I don’t think Ruby believes it, she just gets bored and wants a fight.” He stretched his arm and adjusted his bag. “What about you? Have a favorite breakfast?”

She thought back to all the mornings she and Roman had tough times, eating canned foods cold while they hid in abandoned warehouses. Or the times they celebrated after some big score and Roman would take her to a restaurant and they’d order half the menu just to try it. But until recently, homecooked meals were things from her far distant past; things she could only barely remember pieces of. Now though, Fleur and Jaune had made her meals from scratch every day. But out of all the options, one dish stuck out.

*Crepes. With berries.*

“What was that with berries?”

*Crepes?*

Jaune nodded. “I don’t know that one yet.”

Neo typed up the word on her scroll and showed it to him.

“Oh!” He practiced the word. “Like making one! Okay I’ll remember that! You know actually my sister Saphron used to make them sometimes.” He smiled to himself. “If our parents were away and she had to watch us, she always let me help her cook. She taught me almost everything I know.”

Neo was going to tell him that it sounded nice when Nora started yelling.

“Ow! Who puts boulders right in the middle of the road like this?”

Ren gave her a confused look. “You didn’t see it?’

‘That’s not the point! They’re all over the place!” Nora brushed herself off and kicked the rock.

Ruby bent down to look at one. “It almost looks like it was from rock dust. Could someone have been using dust out here?”

“If they were, they were probably fighting whatever made these.” Ren was standing over a patch of trampled road, a few massive footprints were still discernable, but Neo didn’t recognize the Grimm that could have made them.

Jaune was staring at the ground intently. “Hey Ruby. You took Professor Port’s class too, right?”

“Of course, Jaune. It was mandatory for leaders, and an elective for everyone else.”

“Do you remember that week we studied Anima Grimm? Wasn’t there one that could use dust?”

Little Red looked at the rocks in the road, then back at the footprints. “Oh yeah… uh... I usually used that class to catch up on my sleep before Oobleck’s lectures.”

Jaune’s face fell. “Yeah… me too.’

Neo couldn’t believe what she was hearing. Out of all the four trained Huntsmen students, only two of them took the class on Grimm and neither stayed awake to learn anything!.

Nora came back to the group and started jumping from footstep to footstep in the dirt. “It looks like the Grimm went the same way we are!”

Ren watched Nora as she leapt away. “Then we’ll be ready for them.”

\---

It was cold. She could see the frost in her breath as she climbed out of her bed. She clutched her doll’s hand for support as she left her room and walked down the dark staircase one step at a time. Her parents’ door was open. They were still in bed. No matter how hard she tried they wouldn’t wake up. She started to feel tired too. A gunshot hurt her ears. An old man wearing a wide brimmed hat scooped her up and ran out of the farmhouse. He made it to the fence before he collapsed into the snow. Skeletal hands with sharp claws tore at him, dragged him back towards the well. He yelled at her to run. The monsters began to climb out of the well again, shuffling towards her; their red eyes glowing in the dark. 

Neo woke up in a panic. Everything was still so dark. Her heart was racing hard enough that she could feel it in her throat. She tried to sit up and lean against the tree she was sleeping under.

She clutched her sleeping bag and squeezed her eyes shut. She was in an Anima forest. A few days away from Suisen Village. She was with four huntsmen and huntresses in training.

Neo opened her eyes when she finally started to catch her breath. But the sleeping bag she was holding wasn’t her mauve bag.

This one was yellow.

She looked around the camp. Ren, Nora, and Little Red were all still asleep by the dead campfire. But Jaune was gone. And he had put his sleeping bag over hers.

Neo put on her boots and started searching the nearby forest. After a few minutes of searching, she found him donned in full armor and had his weapons drawn, going through some battle stances. She was about to make herself known when she heard another voice with him.

“That’s enough stances. Don’t forget to watch your footwork. It’s the most important thing to keep in mind during a fight. Now for more advanced material…” She spotted Jaune’s scroll leaning against a tree in the grass. From it, Pyrrha Nikos was describing different styles of blocking with a shield, and when to use each type.

Jaune followed her instructions perfectly, parrying imaginary blows and redirecting attacks with his shield. He stopped and rewound sections to make sure he got them right. He was breathing so heavily she figured he had been at it for a couple hours already.

It seemed like that tutorial had ended, and he started the next one.

“Alright, Jaune, just like we practiced. Follow these instructions: shield up, keep your grip tight, and don’t forget to keep your front foot forward. Ready? Go!”

Jaune started a series of stabs and slashes. Each one timed exactly the way he had been told to.

“Okay. Now, assuming you aren’t cheating… we can take a break. I know this can be frustrating. And it can feel like so much effort to progress such a small amount. But I want you to know that I’m proud of you. I’ve never met someone so determined to better themselves. You’ve grown so much since we started training. And I know this is just the beginning.”   
  
Neo couldn’t believe she didn’t realize it sooner. She remembered Jaune, Nora, and Ren from the Vytal festival. Cinder had her competing with her team in order to make it a group of four. And while they waited for their match, she had watched Pyrrha Nikos and her team win a fight for Beacon. The Vale news had reported a huge piece on her death at the Fall of Beacon.

“Jaune. I… I… I want you to know that I’m just happy to be a part of your life. I’ll always be here for you Jaune.”

He paused the recording. She could hear him start to cry between his heavy breaths. After a few moments he wiped his face and selected the next tutorial.

His partner was dead, and she hadn’t even noticed. What’s worse, she was responsible for the girl’s death. And now he was walking across Anima making her meals and learning how to sign for her. Her heart sank and twisted into a knot. She felt like she had seen something personal. Something she, of all people, wasn’t meant to.

She hurried back to their campsite as quietly as she could. She slid a few more branches onto the fire and put his sleeping bag back where it should be.

Then she started packing. The moon was bright enough, she could make her way on her own in the dark. Little Red would think she left them alone. Good. She didn’t want them to see her leave. She just wanted to disappear.

When she finished, Neo headed into the woods, the opposite way Jaune had been training.

This was going to be best for everyone. She didn’t deserve any of it. They should have hated her. Why didn’t they hate her? If they weren’t going to push her away, then she would just push first. She could find Mistral on her own. 

Neo had been walking for a few minutes when a face full of black feathers suddenly blocked her path. An angry crow was cawing at her and refused to let her move. She tried opening Hush to scare the bird off. She swung it in the air until it got caught in the tree branches. Cold tears started to streak down her face. It didn’t matter if they were anger, or frustration, or pain. She was about to snap and start using dust on the corvid when someone ran up behind her.

“Neo?”

A knight and a Scoundrel

Chapter 2.3: Sleepless Knights

Jaune Arc

Jaune arrived back at the camp to find his sleeping bag back in its original spot, smoothly laid out like nothing happened. And the fire was burning again. Jaune turned to check on Neo but she wasn’t there. Her bedding, her bag, it was all gone.

He tried to follow the smallest footprints from the fire to the edge of the forest. He panted and looked into the darkness. A straight path from the one on the road seemed the best lead he had. Jaune started running through the woods, hoping to catch a glimpse of his teammate in the dark.

A sudden loud cawing and breaking branches caught his attention. He adjusted towards it and ran until he nearly smacked into Neopolitan wrestling with her parasol caught in the trees. The bird flew away as soon as he stepped forward.

“Neo? What are you doing? Where are you going?”

Neo whipped around and stared at him like she had been caught in a trap. *Mistral.*

Jaune didn’t understand. That’s exactly where RNNJR had been going. “Why are you leaving?”

*It’s just better this way.* As Neo stepped back, Jaune could see the dark streaks running down her cheeks.

“Neo, I don’t understand. Did we do something?”

At that the girl dropped to the ground. * I saw you. I woke up and went looking for you. And I saw you.*

Jaune rubbed the back of his neck. “I didn’t think anyone would notice this late at night. But that doesn’t explain why-“

*It’s my fault! I’m the reason your partner is dead and none of you care! You treat me like another student but I’m not. You make me meals and talk to me and I don’t deserve it. I don’t deserve it! You shouldn’t owe me anything! I helped Cinder destroy your lives. And since you won’t push me away, I will.”

Jaune froze. He didn’t know what to say to all of that. He knew Neo had played a role in Beacon, but she wasn’t the source of blame. “Well, I’ll be right here anyway.” He sat down across from her.

*Why?*

“Why what?”

*Why are you staying here?*

Jaune caught his breath for a moment before beginning. “I cheated my way into Beacon. I was never going to be good enough on my own to get in. I was so bad, my parents practically expected me to fail and get sent back home. But Pyrrha…” Jaune paused, trying to collect his thoughts. “Pyrrha believed in me. She saw the best in me, even when she shouldn’t have. For a long time, I thought I had to do everything on my own. I was tired of being the one everyone had to save and wanted to be the hero. She saw past that; believed in me anyway. Trained me. She was the best of us. But then, that night at the Vytal festival, she and I were some of the last students still in Beacon. Cinder had just gone up the tower and we were out of time. Before I could convince her not to go, she kissed me and threw me in a jet-locker. I guess I’m saying, caring about and accepting you anyway is what Pyrrha would have wanted, what she would do if she was here.”

He wiped away the tears rolling down his face. He’d never told anyone all of that before. Not at once.

Neo hugged her knees to her chest. *I still did, awful things.*

“Cinder killed Pyrrha. Cinder destroyed Beacon. Was that your plan, or hers?”

*She needed a four-student team to get into the festival. I helped her get Mercury into the finals. She needed the Atlesian army out of the way and she knew I would be happy to do it.*

“She used you. And Torchwick. I don’t blame you for Beacon. I blame her. And if I ever see her again- “ Jaune stopped. Took a breath. “Well, I’ve been training. Pyrrha sent me away because she knew I couldn’t help her then. I /will/ make up for it next time.”

Neo stood up and walked to his side before sitting down again. They sat in silence for a long time, watching the stars move across the sky. Eventually the crickets started chirping again and then the whole forest quietly came back to life. Jaune was almost worried she had fallen asleep when she finally replied.

*There’s no coming back from the things I did. Even if I wanted to do something right, I can’t.*

Jaune suddenly remembered a conversation he had had with Ruby a long time ago. He turned to Neo. “Nope.”

*Nope?*

“Nope! You’re a part of RNNJR now Neo. There’s nothing you can’t do.”

*What if I can’t make up for it all?*

“Hmm, nope.”

*Even being the only person who understands me when I sign, you aren’t that easy to talk to.*

Jaune smiled. “Nope. Wanting to do better today, already makes you a little better than you were yesterday. If you just keep that up, then, who knows what we can do?”

Neo sighed, stopped hugging her knees and wiped her dried tears and makeup onto her sleeve. *Where do I start?*

Jaune stood up and pulled Hush out of the trees. He collapsed the canopy and handed it back to her. “First, we go back to camp before everyone realizes we're gone.


	3. Chapter 3

A Knight and a Scoundrel

Chapter 3.1: Steel and Stone

Jaune Arc

Jaune crept as softly as he could out of camp and back down the road they had come. He figured the others would be asleep for a few more hours at least.

He had noticed a small lake last night just before they made camp, and he figured the clearing around the shoreline would be an excellent spot to train; for once he’d have a space free of tree roots and decomposing soil.

When he circled around into the clearing Neo was standing there, hip cocked. *Jaune, do you ever sleep?* She replaced his name with the sign ‘yellow’ while she mouthed her sentence. Jaune preferred it to ‘Vomit Boy’.

“I get enough. But weren’t you just asleep back at camp? I saw you when I left.”

Neo covered her mouth in mock surprise before returning to her previous stance. *Semblance.*

“What are you doing out here?”

She placed Hush under her arm and tied up her hair. *You’ve been shadowboxing. If you’re trying to improve, you could use a partner to fight back. It’s the least I could do around here, so…* She brandished her parasol, holding it out like a rapier with her other arm behind her back.

He smiled bashfully. He knew she was trying to play it off as nothing. But it still meant a lot to him. “I don’t know what to say.”

The jab at his head replied, ‘Then don’t.’

Jaune jumped back and drew Crocea Mors. The two of them circled around each other, looking for weaknesses, sizing each other up. They made a few test strikes, easily blocking or parrying each other’s advances.

Jaune started with a quick bash from his shield. Neo stepped back to keep her balance. He pushed again, trying to keep her on the defensive. On the third attempt she opened her parasol, its surprisingly hefty force pushed him back. She followed up with a series of thrusts he parried with his sword.

When she couldn’t get through his guard, she rushed him. He braced against his shield. This time he was on the defensive. She collided with enough force to stagger him. He fixed his footing and nearly landed a blow to her abdomen, if she hadn’t dived and rolled out of the way.

“Almost had you on that one!” Jaune taunted her as they circled each other another time.

Neo rushed towards him again, this time sliding underneath his shield and springing up inside his guard. She used Hush to knock him off balance as she grabbed his shield. He brought his sword up in just enough time to block her next slash, but she used his blade as leverage and ensnared the hooked end of Hush around his wrist. In one motion she pulled Crocea Mors out of his hand and onto the grass.

Neo summersaulted back, landed, and gave Jaune a fierce smirk before bowing.

“Very impressive. Now what?”

She stood up straight, tossed Hush, and put up her fists.

Jaune copied her stance, slightly worried about how rusty his hand-to-hand was.

Neo had been slow before compared to how fast she was moving now. Jaune could barely get out of the way of her right hook. The left hit his stomach, knocking the air out of him. She kept advancing, hitting him anywhere he hadn’t guarded. He was tired of getting hit and not getting any in. He tried to throw a punch, but she ducked beneath it, pivoted, and kicked him in the chest. He staggered backwards and had just looked back at her when he saw her heel headed straight for his face. It knocked him to the ground.

From his place in the grass, he could see her feet as she strolled over. Jaune looked up to see her beaming and extending her hand. He took it and she helped him stand.

*Your defense is good. Just be careful of opponents smaller than you. And keep a better grasp on your sword.* Neo walked over to their equipment and brought them back to him. *Same goes for your hand-to-hand. You focus on a stationary defense. Which has its strengths, obviously, but I think we should include some mobility. You won’t lose aura if you’re not hit.*

Jaune rubbed the back of his neck. “Yeah. You were really hard to hit. I had to wait until you were already close and even then, you still blocked them all!” He had to admit she was a great fighter. Their styles were as different as could be, but that was a blessing. He was going to need to be able to block her attacks if he was going to have a chance at Cinder’s.

He realized what he had been forgetting. He pulled out his scroll and asked Neo for hers. “So we can sync our aura readouts. It helps to know how much everyone has at any time. There, yours should be synced with everyone in RNNJR now.” He checked the new readout. As far as percentages went, Neo’s aura hadn’t even taken a scratch. What worried him was how little of it she had. No wonder her fighting style focused on evasion.

Neo tapped her fingers on Hush’s handle to get his attention. *Round two or what, Jaune?*

He chuckled and straightened back up, lifting Crocea Mors. “Absolutely.”

\---

“Alright RNNJR, today’s the day we get to Suisen village.” Ruby announced as they marched along the road.

Nora leaned against Ren as they walked. “Days, weeks in the mountains! I can’t wait.”

The woods slowly started to disappear. The trees became more and more spread out until the landscape opened up into a wide grassland. The fields of lush green grass were accented with the occasional pine tree.

The wooden markers denoting the road slowly turned into a wooden fence, then a cobblestone wall as they approached the village. The small town was bustling with activity, almost as much as Higanbana. Residents perused the market, crafts people worked outside, and the town guards patrolled the tall walls. Everything seemed vibrant and alive. Except the mine refinery.

Ren noticed it too. “It does not look like the mine is open. That’s strange. It’s what the town is built around.”

“There seem to be an awful lot of guards around for a settlement this small, too” Little Red chimed in.

Neo sighed. *We’re investigating, aren’t we?*

“We can find a place to stay after. But yeah. This is weird.” Jaune stared at the refinery’s quiet chimneys. Searching for some kind of sign. “We should check it out.”

RNNJR made their way through the town and into the refinery. Jaune could imagine how it would sound with all of the machines running and workers doing their jobs. But now the building was silent. Their footsteps echoed down the hallways as they looked around the building.

“Hey! Who are you? You’re not supposed to be in here!” A gruff man stepped out of an office as they passed by.

Ruby stammered. “We were just looking to- “

The man looked them up and down. Eyeing their weapons. “You wouldn’t happen to be huntsmen, would you?”

Neo cocked an eyebrow at the man.

“Technically we’re still students- “ Ruby began.

“You might be the best chance we have. Come with me.” The man left his office and started walking them down the building.

Nora whispered to the rest of the team. “Is anyone else getting a really weird vibe from this guy, or?”

He led them to the end of the main floor, and up to a large, curtained window. “I’m the foreman for the mine. Suisen relies on our quarry to sustain the village. Regular shipments to Mistral send iron and dust to the city and bring back food and medicine. But about a month ago, we had a Grimm attack. Our guards couldn’t stop the creatures, but they were able to contain them.” He pulled open the curtain to reveal the refinery backed up right against the quarry. Outside, four massive Grimm prowled the open mine below them. “The walls are too steep for them to climb. They can’t hurt us, but now our quarry is useless. And what’s worse, they attract more Grimm to the village every day.”

Ruby stared at the Grimm below them. “I don’t recognize those. What are they?”

Jaune leaned against the glass for a closer look. The Grimm looked like massive, six-legged monitor lizards, each the size of a small car. Their boney masks and armor plates were a dark brown color instead of the usual white. The creatures hissed at each other as they patrolled the quarry floor. He had a vague recollection of seeing their diagram in Professor Port’s class.

“Basilisks. We saw their footprints weeks ago on the road, remember?” Jaune suddenly noticed Ren standing next to him. “They aren’t fast, but they’re durable. And they can use the dust they consume in their venom. This might be a tough fight”

Ruby turned to the foreman, stern and resolute. “We’ll do what we can.”

\---

The foreman closed the metal gate behind them, then hit the switch himself. The elevator slowly began to make its way down into the quarry, its shaft built into the wall.

Neo tapped Hush against her leg. Nora squeezed Magnhild with white knuckles. Ren stood motionless and quiet.

Ruby double-checked Crescent Rose’s gravity dust magazine. “Alright RNNJR. Let’s do this.”

Jaune pulled his sword from Crocea Mors as the elevator doors clicked opened.

The Grimm had noticed them coming down the elevator. All four of the massive creatures scurried toward them, mouths agape, hissing as they clawed their way forward.

RNNJR rushed out of the elevator and into the quarry. Nora fired her grenades into the group of Grimm. The blasts shook the ground but didn’t affect the advancing monsters. Ruby tried firing between their plates of armor, but it didn’t do much either.

Ruby shouted to the team, “These things must have a weak spot somewhere!”

Jaune, Ren, and Neo met the creatures head on. Jaune dodged to the side as the first Grimm passed, slicing its legs with his sword. Ren and Neo jumped upwards onto its body. Ren dug his pistols into its back and drug himself down its side, landing next to Jaune.

Neo clung to one of the horns protruding from its forehead. With a malicious grin, she extended the parasol’s blade and jabbed it into the creature’s large red eye. After some turbulence, Neo managed to gouge the second one too. It reared up on four legs and roared as it tried to shake her off

Ruby didn’t miss her chance to aim for the creatures exposed underbelly. “Sugar-Rush!”

Nora swung Magnhild toward Ruby. Just before impact, Ruby jumped onto the hammer and rode it around Nora’s swing. At its apex, Nora fired a grenade and launched Ruby forward. The huntress fired gravity dust to propel herself even faster as her scythe shifted into a glaive. She tore through the Grimm’s belly, leaving a burning red slash through its body as it slowly evaporated into smoke.

Neo and Ruby landed next to each other. Ruby grabbed Neo’s hand and made her give a high-five. Neo rolled her eyes and smiled.

The other three Grimm shot past them, unable to stop in time, and skidded across the quarry floor. Nora propelled herself over the creatures and landed with the rest of the team.

Ruby reloaded Crescent Rose. “That’s one down. Three to g- “

A blast of orange liquid smacked into Ruby and sent her crashing to the ground. The liquid hardened into stone around her.

Red rose petals came flying out of the stone and collected back where Ruby had been standing. “What the heck was that!?”

“I told you, Basilisks can spit the dust they consume. This quarry mines rock dust, so…” Ren dropped off, seeing Ruby’s exasperated expression.

The Grimm started firing more of the orange venom at them.

Ruby evaded the second blast. “We have to get in close again, Jaune, Neo…?”

Neo extended Hush and stood beside him. They covered their team as they ran forward. Everything the Grimm venom collided with was instantly incased in stone. Every time Jaune blocked an attack with his shield, he had to smash it against his sword to break off the rocks growing on it.

A few blasts landed on Hush. Neo spun on her heel, collapsed the parasol, and launched the stone back at the Grimm.

On six legs, the giant lizards drug their bodies across the ground, protecting their soft undersides. And the armor on their bodies usually protected by hard bony plates had been recovered in stone, making them that much harder to break through. The Grimm attacked with their claws and teeth; swiping at RNNJR every chance they had. But the most devastating attack came from their heavy, whip like tails.

The first Grimm had gone down easily before they were organized. But as the fight went on, it became more and more apparent that the Grimm wouldn’t let them land any devastating blows. Every time Neo or Ren tried to get on top of one again, one of its allies would swipe them off. Whenever Jaune or Nora tried to stay low and hack at their bellies, they couldn’t get more than a few hits in before another Grimm fired its venom.

Ruby tried to take a few shots closer to the Grimm. It was starting to seem successful, blinding another one and wounding a second. Until the third Grimm whipped its tail at her faster than she could notice. It broke her aura and sent her flying into a pool of orange goo.

Ren was the first to run after her. He ran to her side and activated his semblance, cloaking them from any more intentional harm.

Jaune looked at his scroll. Ren and Nora’s auras were running into the red. Neo’s was half-way gone. And the Grimm were still fighting strong. He needed to end the fight now.

He pointed to one of the further walls, away from Ren and Ruby. “Neo; use your semblance to distract the Grimm. Keep them as close to that wall as you can. Ren, Ruby: Hit Nora with all of the lightning dust you can. Nora- “

Nora hefted Magnhild with a wide grin.

“Pomgrenade!”

RNNJR burst into action. Neo used her semblance to create multiple copies of herself, got the monsters’ attention, then ran towards the wall Jaune had indicated. She met him and Nora at its base as the Grimm ran towards them. Nora jumped onto Jaune’s raised shield, standing on her hammer, and waited for the Grimm to get closer.

Jaune looked over at Neo. “We’re going to have to keep them here for as long as we can.”

She nodded. *I know.*

Nora watched the charging Grimm. “Here they come!”

Jaune crouched down, then sprang up, using all the strength he had to push his shield into the air as Nora fired her hammer, shooting her up towards the wall. As she flew, round after round of lightning dust increased her power. With one swing of her hammer Nora brought down the cliffside.

Jaune and Neo stood their ground as long as they could, trying not to lead the Grimm out of the path of the impending rockslide. When they started to run Jaune knew they wouldn’t be able to make it out in enough time.

“Neo, get down!” he shouted, as the rocks began to land around them. She crouched low as he put an arm around her and raised Crocea Mors over her head. She extended Hush and held her parasol over him.

The rocks came crashing down. Soon, everything went dark.

A Knight and a Scoundrel

Chapter 3.2: Players of a Different Game

Neopolitan

Neo opened her eyes. Jaune was kneeling over her, looking down at her with a big smile.

“Well, that worked!”

*Let’s never do it again.*

Jaune pushed up with his shield, but the boulders around them didn’t budge. “Was it my best plan? No. No it wasn’t. But it did kill the Grimm. So. There’s that.”

It had worked. And his ability to come up with plans on the fly was uncanny. But she didn’t want to sound too approving. *Never. Again.*

After a few minutes, she could hear Nora shouting for them on the other side of the rubble.

“We’re in here! Here!” Jaune tried shouting though the stone. They even gave everything they had to try to push themselves up, hoping she’d see the budge in the rocks.

Being in very real danger moments ago, facing giant Grimm for no other reason than helping the local town, she had to fight every instinct in her body to not just run away; climb up the elevator shaft and leave. But in that moment, surrounded by a crashing rockslide and buried in rubble, she actually felt safe.

She tried not to gag on the idea as light started to shine through the cracks in the rocks. Bit by bit more and more space opened up until they could see Little Red’s face sticking through. She reached her arm down and pulled Neo up, then Jaune.

Little Red hugged them both as soon as they got their footing. “I was so worried! You guys just disappeared into the rockslide!”

Neo didn’t expect a hug. She froze as the girl squeezed her.

Jaune rubbed his neck the way he always did when he was embarrassed. “We were fine. Nothing to worry about. Even got the Grimm!” He shook his head and looked up at the broken cliff. “So, Neo, what do we call that? Para… Pair of… Aegis… Hushed. No. Quiet something… hmmm. Shielded…”

*Why does it need a name?*

“So I can call it out and we know what to do.”

Neo grinned. He was such an idiot. *I told you, never again.*

They argued as they climbed down. RNNJR regrouped and made their way back to the elevator. She noticed a bird circling overhead. Surprisingly, they weren’t dead yet. So it’d have to find carrion somewhere else.

The foreman was waiting for them at the base, an impressed smile on his face. “That was something to see! I can’t believe you took them all out like that! Very impressive indeed!” He helped them aboard and started the lift. “If there is anything we can do for you, this town owes you its livelihood for taking care of those giant lizards.”

Nora looked up from her spot sitting on the floor. “You know, since they had six legs, would they be bugs?”

“Nora, we’ll discuss it later. But yes.” Little Red addressed the foreman again, “You said earlier that this town traded directly with Mistral, right? We wouldn’t happen to be able to be on your next shipment there, could we?”

Neo was impressed. She hadn’t considered that.

The man straightened up. “Absolutely! It’ll be a few months until we refine enough dust and get someone to the city to call for a transport, but you’re welcome to stay and catch a ride!”

Little Red’s smile fell nearly as fast as it had appeared. “Thank you, but we were hoping to get there sooner than that. We’ll probably be able to get there on foot in a month or two.”

The foreman nodded. “I see. Well, I’ll be sure to set you up with a place to stay and some supplies for your journey.”

Little Red thanked him. It was odd. Going from town to town and getting everything they needed for free or barely any Lien. It had been so normal for so long to steal what she wanted. But she didn’t have to anymore. Things were almost… nice.

\---

Neo and Jaune walked back to Suisen in the dark early morning. In the past three days, the town’s guards had gotten used to their schedule. The watchman on duty let them through without a question.

Suisen didn’t have an Inn, but the quarry did have bunkhouses for their workers that the team had been staying in for the time being. They returned their weapons and armor to their lockers and headed to bed.

Jaune leaned on the edge of his shared bunkbed with Ren. “Ruby wants to head out early this morning, maybe in a few hours. You tired, or were you going to stay up?” 

Those weren’t exclusive. She was tired, but she didn’t feel like risking more nightmares just for a couple of hours of sleep. Since he wasn’t sitting down, she figured he wasn’t sleeping either. He had a plan for something. *I’m staying awake. Why?*

Jaune shrugged. “Been wanting to see the sunrise over the plains since we got out of the forest, but we’ve always trained through or slept through it.”

Sunrise? Really? Who was this guy? But she didn’t have any other plans. And he was holding the instant coffee. *Sure, fine.*

“Cool.” He grabbed his things and headed towards the door. “I was thinking one of the watchtowers would be a good view.”

A watchtower? No. If was going to waste his time with a sunrise he was going to see it properly.

Neo grabbed his hood and pulled him onto a different road. She dragged him to the refinery and pointed up. Halfway up the smoke tower, there was a maintenance catwalk.

“Uh, how do we get up there?”

She rolled her eyes. He acted like he’d never scaled an industrial building before. She walked around the building until she found the emergency fire-escape. At the top, she climbed onto the railing, then jumped onto the roof. Jaune needed some help up.

From there, it was an easy walk to the maintenance ladder and a quick climb. For her.

“Have I ever told you, that I’m not the biggest fan of heights?” Jaune looked up at her from about halfway up the ladder. “I still get airsick sometimes.”

Neo sat down, dangling her legs off the side of the catwalk. She gave him a thumbs up for encouragement.

Eventually he made it to the top of the ladder and sat next to her. She could tell he was making a point to not look directly down. The sun was just starting to change the sky into a light pink as the stars were slowly disappearing.

Jaune made their coffee and handed her a mug. It was chalky, but the dry creamer made it sweet enough.

“Hey Neo, how did you learn to fight so well? I mean, were you ever enrolled in a huntsmen school?”

She stared out at the sea of grass. She’d agreed to come out here so that she didn’t have to relive her memories. *No. I taught myself. If I stole something and wasn’t fast enough to run away, I had to fight for it.*

Jaune was quiet for a while. He hadn’t been expecting that kind of an answer. Maybe she felt slightly bad for cutting their conversation short like that. He was trying. *So why did you want to see the sunset?*

Jaune hesitated. “It’s kind of embarrassing. I grew up in Vale, on the edge of the city. When my dad was upset with me, I’d go sit out on the roof and wait for him to cool down. It was also the only place I could be alone with seven sisters. When I saw Suisen, I thought, maybe it’d remind me of the good parts of home.”

*Are you close with your family?*

“With my older sister, Saphron. She practically raised me. My dad and I never really saw eye to eye. Mom tried but I was still just her little boy. My six younger sisters are great don’t get me wrong, but also a handful.” He sighed and drank some of his coffee. “What about you? Do you have any?”

Her parents were dead. Neo didn’t know if she had any siblings. She didn’t think she did. If she had, they were probably dead too. But she didn’t /know/. Everything before Argus was blurry. She had been too young. *I don’t think so.*

She was grateful that Jaune didn’t ask her to follow up with an explanation. She closed her eyes and waited for the caffeine to kick in.

Jaune let her rest quietly until sunrise. “Oh wow! Look at that!”

Neo opened her eyes to a sea of vibrant green grass, a pink cloudy sky, and golden light bathing it all. Jaune stared at it for a long time, apparently forgetting about his fear of heights. She hoped it was what he had wanted.

“Hey, Neo?" *Thank you.*

\---

It took another two weeks of travel on the road before they unexpectedly came across the next town. It hadn’t been on their map. Neo didn’t like the sound of it.

“Hey! I think I found something!” Nora called everyone over to a sign post she found overgrown in the town square. ‘Oniyuri, I’ve never heard of it.”

Ren crouched down in front of the sign. “I have. It’s sort of like Anima’s Mountain Glenn, if it was never finished. The richest citizens didn’t like how the council was running things, so they made their own settlement. Many thought it would be the future. Maybe even a new Kingdom. I know my parents did. But it was never finished”

“What happened?” Little Red asked.

Ren stood up and walked to a small garden wall. He brushed off a layer of dust to reveal claw marks. “What always happens.”

Jaune scowled. “Grimm.”

Ren was unusually angry. “Not just any one Grimm.” She had rarely seen Ren show any emotion at all, maybe hints of one occasionally. But never anger.

Little Red perked up. “One?”

Ren didn’t reply. He stared at the claw marks, lost in thought. The storm clouds overhead started to pick up speed. No one seemed sure what to do.

Jaune was the first to break the silence. “Come on. This place gives me the creeps. Let’s get out of here.”

RNNJR walked through the ruined town. What she could tell of the buildings, they would have been extravagant. The homes were spaced out in neat rows, small courtyards scattered between them. A dried up, moss covered, once immaculate fountain in the middle of the road summed up the town’s tone.

Ren suddenly stopped walking and put out his hand for the group to do the same. He closed his eyes, focusing on his semblance. After a moment, he pulled his pistols from their holsters. The rest of RNNJR readied their weapons as well.

Without warning a man in a long brown trench coat leapt from the rooftop across from them and landed on the other side of the street. He darted straight for Little Red, but Ren intercepted him.

The man blocked all of Ren’s attacks, then kicked him in the gut to push him away. He continued his assault on Little Red, slashing at her with his pincer-like wrist blades. It looked like she blocked his attacks with her scythe but her aura was shimmering.

By then, the rest of RNNJR had closed the distance. Neo tried to get him away from Little Red. She stuck Hush between them and opened her parasol. When the man staggered back, she tried to land a kick, but he grabbed her ankle and threw her against the fountain.

Jaune tried to land a blow while the man was distracted with her, but the mystery assailant used his momentum to spin into a torrent of blades that eventually ended with him standing on top of Jaune’s shield. He was suddenly enthralled by Jaune’s appearance.

Nora used the opportunity to attack, but he jumped out of the way with such force and speed that he crashed into a second story building.

When he reemerged from the rubble, RNNJR had regrouped in front of the fountain.

Jaune tightened his grip on Crocea Mors. “We’re not looking for a fight.”

Ren stepped forward. “Who are you?”

The man leapt from the building and landed gracefully on his feet. Something about his movements seemed, chaotic. Sudden and restless. He spoke with a constant grin. “Who I am matters not to you,” he pointed to Ren. “You,” Nora. “or you,” Neo. “Well, you do interest me,” he pointed to Jaune. “No, I only matter to /you/.” He pointed lastly at Little Red.

“Me?”

The man started laughing. “You havn’t the slightest clue, do you? Oh, how exciting this must be!”

Little Red changed her grip on her scythe, readying it for another attack. “What do you want?”

The man seemed taken aback. “Oh! The rose has thorns! My little flower, I’m here to whisk you away with me.” His disturbing smile wasn’t at all comforting.

Nora stepped between Little Red and the Man. “What if she doesn’t want to go with you?”

“Well, I’ll take her,” he answered matter-of-factly.

Jaune stepped in front of Nora, shield raised. ‘We’re not going to let you do that.”

The man took a deep breath. “Good.”

He lunged at Jaune, broke his guard and brought his heel down on his head. He then kicked the stunned boy into Neo.

He then ran towards Nora, but before he could reach her, Little Red shot her teammate with a bolt of lightning dust. He started laughing, even harder than before. “Well, if that isn’t ironic.”

Before he could turn, Nora leapt forward, energized by the lighting dust, and slammed Magnhild into the man. The force alone racked the street and caused a cloud of dust to fly up.

The man started laughing again. As the dust cleared, RNNJR could see he had blocked the attack with a segmented, scorpion-like tail. “Surprise!” He jumped to another rooftop, leaving behind his torn trench coat. He stood triumphantly, showing off his tail.

“He’s a faunus…” Ren sounded bewildered.

Little Red stepped forward. “What is this about? The White Fang?”

The man looked pained that she would put him in the same class as the White Fang. “Plastic soldiers and pawns. My heart and body belong only to our goddess!”

Little Red’s eyes narrowed. “Cinder…”

The man looked angry again. “Only in her wildest dreams!” He lunged at her again, this time kicking her hard enough to break her aura and send her flying across the courtyard.

Then he turned his sights on the rest of the team. He broke Ren and Nora’s auras at the same time, delivering a series of blows before throwing them to the side. Jaune lasted a few strikes, but the man was too fast. He swept the boys legs from under him and broke his aura with a double slash from his wrist blades.

Neo lasted the longest. She tried to parry his blades and kicks with Hush, but he was too fast even for her. He grabbed and threw her like he had to Ren and Nora, but she opened her parasol and got back to her feat with enough time to deliver one jab to his chest before we knocked Hush to the side kicked her away again.

Finished, he turned towards Little Red, still laying on the ground. With no one left to stop him, he struck as her with his barbed tail.

Another mystery man appeared, bursting into the courtyard so fast Neo couldn’t tell where he had come from. He held a large sword behind his back, that he used to block the assailant’s stinger. He looked down at Little Red with a cocky smirk. “Hey.”

“As I live and breathe, Qrow Branwen. A true huntsman has entered the fray!”

Qrow looked back at Little Red, confused.

She shrugged as she slowly tried to stand. “I don’t know, this guy’s weird.”

Qrow turned back the first assailant. “Look pal, I don’t know who you are, but you need to leave my niece alone.”

Niece?

He laughed. “Well friend, my name is Tyrian. And I’m afraid that is not possible. My assignment from Her Grace was to retrieve this young girl, so that is what I must do. One does not upset the Queen.”

Little Red looked to her uncle. “Queen?”

He stared down Tyrian. “Salem.”

“Who?”

Tyrian started pacing towards Little Red and her uncle. “I think we’ve had enough talk now, don’t you?”

Qrow readied his sword. “You took the words right out- ”

Tyrian suddenly lunged forward and the two clashed. Their moves were faster than anything Neo had seen before. The road cracked under every hit, and nearby buildings we damaged from their attacks. Tyrian activated the guns in his gauntlets, but Qrow blocked every bullet with his sword. They were fighting at an entirely different level than Neo had seen before.

RNNJR tried to get closer to help the Huntsman, but Tyrian lashed out at them with his tail. He attempted to get closer to them, pushing Qrow back in their deadlock.

Qrow pushed even harder, staggering him away. He glanced towards RNNJR. “Don’t come closer!”

“Fine!” Little Red used her weapon to climb into a nearby building and used her sniper rifle to fire at Tyrian as they fought.

Eventually, Tyrian wrapped his tail around Qrow’s wrist and threw his sword into a ruined building.

Qrow looked down at his empty hand, shrugged, and punched Tyrian in the nose. Two more punches to the face and another kick sent him across the courtyard.

The Huntsman collected his sword and their battle raged again. This time, across a rooftop, then into the ruined building below.

Little Red leapt from her vantage point and rushed to her Uncle’s aid. Jaune tried to go too, but Ren held him back, following the Huntsman’s instructions.

Qrow suddenly burst from the building, skidding across the ground before throwing his sword, burying it into the ground, and landing on it in spectacular fashion. His deep red aura flickered and gave out.

Tyrian’s tail burst from the building nest, but Little Red lunged in front of her uncle and blocked the attack with her scythe. The faunus beamed as he entered the courtyard again. “Do you wish to be taken?”

“No, but I won’t stand by and watch someone get hurt!”

Tyrian struck again, this time at Little Red.

Qrow narrowly blocked the attack. “Ruby, what did I say? Get back!”

She ran in front of the building to get behind Tyrian. “This is my fight too!”

Qrow blocked another blow. “No. It’s not that, it’s…”

A beam from the building’s ceiling suddenly gave out. Little Red’s uncle had just enough time to lunge forward and slice the beam in half before it crushed her.

But his haste left him wide open. Tyrian cut across Qrow’s abdomen with his stinger.

Reacting quickly, Little Red cut the man’s tail clean off.

Tyrian recoiled in pain. “You /bitch/!”

He tried to advance on Little Red again, but the rest of RNNJR ran between them.

The faunus started mumbling to himself. “She… she’ll forgive you…” He ran out of the town before anyone could chase after him.

Little Red ran to her uncle. “Are you okay?”

He checked his side with his hand. “I’m fine he just grazed me.”

Nora checked on them first, “Who was that guy?” Then Ren, “How did you get here?” And Jaune, “Why are people after Ruby?” Neo stood next to them, hands on her hips, waiting for answers herself.

Little Red turned to him. “Uncle Qrow, what is going on?”

Qrow clutched his wound before looking at Little Red, “What’s your favorite fairytale?”


	4. Chapter 4

A Knight and a Scoundrel

Chapter 4._: One Thing

Roman Torchwick

\--- 10 years ago ---

Argus was an awful city. Sure, it was crowded, safe, and had a booming economy, but it also was home to the largest police force outside of Atlas. Therefore, Roman didn’t make his way out to Argus on his own volition very often.

But this trip had been worth it. An old contact had tipped him off to a rather large shipment of Atlesian merchandise destined for distribution across Anima. With a few face-to-face negotiations, Roman had persuaded the dock master to look the other way in case any of the containers… fell off their boats.

Roman made his way from the seaport back towards the main city and the airship waiting to take him home to Vale. He perused every storefront as he walked by, regretting the city’s tight military control. It was too bad; he could make a lot of profit here.

He stumbled as he crossed the next street. A group of pedestrians coming the other way had knocked into him as he was looking at a particularly valuable storefront. It took him a moment too long to realize his jacket pocket was suddenly empty. He whipped around, looking for the group that had come by him before. But instead spotted a small child rushing into a back alley.

Roman let out an exhausted sigh. It was always something.

He walked back the way he came and made a turn down the same alley. There was nothing special, a dumpster, some boxes, a stray cat. He investigated the area, swinging his cane from side to side as he walked, tapping on boxes and behind containers. Suddenly, a cardboard box shattered apart. In its place, the small child was huddled on the ground.

Roman stood up straight, fixing his posture and making himself look as professional as possible. “Truth be told, I’m the last person who’d tell you pickpocketing is wrong. Really, I am. And you did quite the job. But I’m going to need my wallet back.”

The child looked up at him with a pair of pitiful pink and brown eyes. She was wrapped in an old wool coat far too big for her, and a pink knitted scarf twice her height. Roman guessed she wasn’t much older than maybe nine or ten years old.

He took off his hat and leaned down to take his wallet, but the girl bit his hand. “Ouch! Hey!” He yanked it away, regretting not for the first time, that he didn’t have any aura. “Alright then, little thief. You have stolen property, now you need to fence it. I just happen to be in the market for exactly what you have there, so why don’t we make a deal?”

The child nodded slightly.

Roman felt around his pockets, trying to think of something he had to barter with the kid. The only other thing he really had was a package of cigars and a lighter, which even he knew wasn’t the most appropriate thing to give a child. So, what did children like? Dolls? Candy? Or…

“Alright. How about this. You give me my things back, and I’ll buy you however much ice cream you can eat? Deal?”

She looked down at the wallet, then at his outstretched hand. She nodded and gave it back to him.

Roman stood up and gave the kid room to get out. “Alright, I’m a man of my word… usually. Where’s the nearest shop?”

The girl walked him around the corner and down a few streets until they reached the parlor. The room was bright and clean, chrome fixtures lined the tables and displays.

A man behind the counter scolded her as she ran in. “I told you to stay out! I don’t need your stolen money in my store!”

Roman put his hand on the girl’s shoulder and escorted her back in. “Now that’s a bit harsh isn’t it? I try to take my kid sister around Argus on vacation, and she gets yelled at in the first store we visit.”

The man backpaddled immediately. “My mistake sir! I mistook her for one of the neighborhood children. Of course, you’re both welcome here!”

Roman shuffled the girl forward and leaned against the counter. “Alright, pick out what you want.” He turned to the server, “Whatever she wants and a vanilla for me. Thanks.” He paid for the ice cream, took his vanilla cone, and sat down at a nearby table.

A moment later, the girl came bouncing up putting her bowl down across from him. Scoop after scoop of ice cream towered over her head.

Roman laughed. “I admire your ambition! I’d said as much as you wanted, so, fair enough.”

The girl took off her scarf and pulled the hair away from her face. She was covered in dirt and more than half starved.

He chewed on his cheek as he mulled over an idea. “Look kid… you a runaway?”

The girl shook her head no.

“Orphan? Have any family?”

She squeezed her eyes shut and shook her head again.

“Well, you look like you can handle yourself pretty well. Managed to catch me off guard at least. I think I can work with that. What do you think about coming to work for me? Just so happens, I could use a protégé.”

She thought for a moment, her face covered in ice cream and chocolate sauce. Then she nodded and went back to eating.

“Well alright then. What do I call you? You have a name?”

The girl stayed quiet.

He very well couldn’t just call her ‘girl’. What was it these days? Colors? He looked around the room, trying to get an idea to suggest. Red. Mauve. Steel. Mint. Linen. Lemon. Ummm….

A new customer walked in the door. The server took their order, and created a sundae with vanilla, chocolate, and strawberry ice cream.

Roman looked back at the swirling mat of colors that was the girl’s hair. Streaks of white, pink, and brown. He sighed again, staring out the window towards the airfield. Towards Vale. Things were about to change. He never expected the souvenir he’d bring back from Argus would be a kid.

He let her eat until she couldn’t anymore. He knew what growing up on the streets was like. Probably stunted the girl’s growth bad enough as it was. When she was done, he stood up and offered her his hand.

“You ready, Neo?”

A Knight and a Scoundrel

Chapter 4.1: One Journey’s End

Neopolitan

Neo awoke to Little Red and Jaune helping her uncle onto a makeshift stretcher. His bandages were stained a dark purple and he could barely keep his eyes open. Ren was kneeling over him, looking at his wound.

“Scorpion venom in high doses is known for causing intense pain, fever-like symptoms, hallucinations, and heart problems. And in high enough doses…” Ren trailed off. “We need to get him help as soon as we can.”

They barely packed their things before Jaune and Little Red picked up Qrow’s stretcher and started on the road again.

After everything they had learned last night, and Qrow’s worsening condition, the group’s morale was incredibly low. Ruby seemed distraught, but barely holding it all in. Ren had been acting off since Oniyuri, and Nora was trying to comfort him. Jaune was holding together what he could, but his temper seemed uncharacteristically short.

Neo walked ahead of the group, quietly scouting the road for any signs of trouble. She needed the time alone; her head was still spinning from last night.

Dozens of thoughts were rushing through her mind at the same time. Maidens, Relics, Vaults, silver eyed warriors, Salem, and keeping them all a secret from the world. Qrow had thrown everything at them. A few things made more sense, but the old huntsman had just revealed the world she knew was nothing compared to the game she had been unknowingly a part of.

Beacon was destroyed for two reasons. One: so that Salem could access its vault and steal the Relic of Choice. And two, because Cinder wanted the rest of the Fall Maiden powers. The White Fang, she and Roman, and corrupting the Atlesian military had all just been a diversion. A mess of loose ends so that the school could be overrun with Grimm. And so none of the kingdoms would trust each other again. Salem was picking off the Academies one at a time, and no one could stop her.

Neo resented the four kingdoms; their designs. Forcing humanity to congregate within their walls, follow their rules, or else let you suffer just outside their gates. Then, to learn it was all for training huntsmen to protect the Relics? They didn’t care about their people. They cared about power. They always had.

Little Red, Ren, and Nora had all been mostly quiet after hearing it all. They were stunned by what they had been told and processed it in their own ways. But Jaune had been furious. And with good reason. Turned out, his partner had died for a cause she barely understood. They told her she could save the world, so, to her, there weren’t any other choices. She was a good person, and Ozpin had counted on that to secure the Fall Maiden powers away from Cinder. But in the end, Cinder got the powers anyway, and Pyrrha died for nothing.

Neo came to a fork in the road. A rocky trail led up the closest mountain, its sign pointed to Mistral. The path ahead was marked with a scratched-out sign, ‘Kuroyuri’. She waited for her team, not particularly hopeful about either option.

Qrow had told them Professor Lionheart was their best bet for uncovering Salem’s scheme. She didn’t mind sticking around with them until then if it meant finding Cinder. Killing her was still the plan. But now, there were more people to blame. More reasons they had been pulled into this game. And her only source of direction was dying on a stretcher in the middle of nowhere. For the first time, Neo felt completely in over her head.

\---

The rest of RNNJR didn’t like their choices either. Little Red wanted to try for Kuroyuri, in case the ruined town still had any medicine left. Jaune agreed with her, worried that the trip up the mountain might be too hard on her uncle. But Ren refused to listen. He was getting more and more frustrated until Nora suggested they split up. She and Ren could climb the mountain faster and get help while the rest of RNNJR took Qrow through the town.

Neo agreed. She didn’t want to leave Jaune and Little Red alone carrying her uncle between them. If Grimm or bandits tried to attack along the road, they wouldn’t be able to defend themselves. That kind of bad luck wasn’t worth the risk.

The walk to Kuroyuri was quick. The forest had been dead silent the entire way. Not a single Grimm or animal around.

The town was destroyed, just like they had feared. Its walls were scratched and broken; its buildings were mostly in shambles. Dark stains were left on many of the walls and floors. The entire place felt haunted, cursed.

Little Red was the first to break the silence. “Ren really didn’t want to come here…” She stared at the ruins, at the destroyed store fronts and wrecked homes. She looked back at Jaune, “Do you know why?”

He lowered his head, having seen enough. “I think I have a pretty good idea.”

They put Qrow down against a tree near the center of town, then started searching for any sign of medicine. Jaune stood guard over the huntsman while the others split up. Little Red burst from home to home, looking for supplies while Neo searched for the town’s pharmacy.

She couldn’t tell if the store had been ruined by a stampede of Grimm or cleaned out by bandits, but either way, nothing was left untouched. She scoured the store, finding little more than a few clean bandages and too many broken bottles.

She hurried back to Jaune and Qrow. She offered what little she had found as Little Red returned, equally empty handed. Neo handed her the bandages with a worried, sympathetic frown.

Little Red checked on her uncle. His cough was getting worse and he had started mumbling incoherently. Her voice sounded close to cracking, “I’m sorry. This is all my fault; I should never have dragged you guys into this.”

Jaune had been watching the main road but turned back to Little Red after her sudden outburst. “You didn’t drag us, we wanted to come.” Neo thought his voice was calm and caring. The same way it had been when he had caught her running away.

Little Red started to stand back up. “But you didn’t know about Tyrian, about…”

“Ruby… we lost…” Jaune took a moment steel himself. “We lost Pyrrha, you lost her too. And Penny. And your team. And in a way, your sister. But you’re still here, despite everything you’ve lost, and everything you would still lose. You chose to come out here. Because you felt like you could make a difference. You didn’t drag us along. You gave us the courage to follow you.” He put his hand on her shoulder.

Neo had never been good at comforting others. She stood behind Jaune, trying to give the girl a reassuring smile. The last five months had been a mess, but, Little Red had gotten them through it. Neo didn’t feel drug along either.

Little Red had just begun to look better when a distant piercing roar came from the forest.

Neo instinctively grabbed Hush and extended its blade. The forest trees shook in the growing wind. It was hard to tell what was natural and what wasn’t. But she remembered not hearing anything coming from the forest as they arrived. There had been a predator lurking in the woods.

She backed up towards the others. Jaune had his hand on his sword, ready to draw it at a moment’s notice. Little Red picked up Crescent Rose. The three of them stood in front of Qrow, listening to the wind for another sign.

A moment passed. Then two. Three. Ren and Nora came bounding around the corner and sprinted straight towards the others. Neo was half ready to see a pack of angry Beowolves behind them. But nothing came. Just another piercing howl, getting ever closer.

Ren had been mumbling something like ‘not again’ repeatedly while Nora tried to hold him up.

“What are you guys doing here?” Jaune asked.

“Did you hear that noise? What was that?” Little Red was looking around the village, trying to find the source.

Behind them, they could hear the sound of a large animal taking long deep breaths. Like a horse about to start a race.

Neo’s heart started racing. Every muscle in her body tensed and screamed at her to run. To drop everything, leave her team, and get out of there. Her hands shook as she clutched Hush tighter. She turned around.

An enormous black horse stood on the other side of the courtyard panting as clouds of smoke rose from its mouth. Bony plates and thick black tendons held the skinless beast together. Fused to its back was a legless, horned rider whose arms drug against the cobblestones as it stepped closer. Its rider’s head twitched back and forth, almost unable to concentrate on one thing at a time. But when it noticed RNNJR standing in the courtyard, it focused its burning red eyes on them, fought against its stitched mouth, and let out a horrible, hissing, scream.

\---

Pink grenades exploded in the air. Gunfire like crackling thunder erupted from Crescent Rose. But the Grimm didn’t flinch. Didn’t even notice the pain. It ran straight into the center of their group. To Jaune, standing over Qrow.

Ren quickly used his semblance on Jaune, allowing him to carry Qrow to safety. But that left the Grimm with four humans to hunt.

Its arms stretched outward to an impossible length, swiping at them with claws that could crush buildings. Its past handiwork stood as proof all around them. Neo slid under or jumped over the flailing limbs, just barely keeping up with the creature.

Ren charged it, firing his Stormflowers at the monster as he evaded its attacks. His bullets didn’t have any more of an affect than Little Red’s. The collection of old spears and swords embedded into the creatures back suggested it had survived far worse.

Jaune came running back into the fight, watching as the Grimm continued to scream and attack RNNJR. “Guys! Run in a circle!”

Neo followed his lead. She slashed the Grimm’s outstretched arm with her blade to get its attention, then followed the direction Little Red and Nora had already started. As it began to twist around, its torso become slower as it stretched itself out.

Jaune drew Crocea Mors and slashed the beast’s hind leg. A small amount of shadow leaked from the wound as it kicked Jaune away with a heavy hoof. He landed close to Little Red. He sheathed his sword and collapsed his shield as he got to his feet.

“What are you doing?”

He pulled Crocea Mors from his hip and held it in both hands. The sheath started to erupt the sides of his shield, then sprang upward, creating a double tipped longsword.

Little Red’s eyes widened with glee before she went back to shooting at the Grimm.

Jaune ran at the beast again, carving his way into the creature’s other leg. The wound billowed black smoke this time.

The monster stopped moving, stared into the sky, and opened its mouth wide enough to tear open its stitches. The roar it let out tore into Neo’s ears. She winced at the pain. The creature then started to spin in the opposite direction, releasing all of the pent-up energy it had been storing.

Neo leapt in front of Jaune, Hush extended and ready for the Grimm’s attack. Without his shield, she knew he would be more vulnerable. They were still working on his mobility and evasion.

The arm slammed into her parasol, sending them both tumbling back down the courtyard. She felt her aura pop and dissipate in a cloud of pink glitter.

Ren charged the monster again. This time climbing into the nearby tree and firing at its head at close range.

The Grimm caught Ren with its other arm, skewering him between its claws, and keeping him against a tower on the far side of the square. It pulled back its other arm, ready to kill its first victim.

Nora cried out to Little Red and sprang towards her. Little Red spun her scythe around and fired Nora towards Ren. She crashed into the building just in time. When the dust cleared, Nora was hanging from Magnhild a few feet above Ren, having just saved his life.

Ren looked up in shock and relief to his partner.

Her face turned red as she squeezed her legs together. “Stop looking!”

The Grimm grabbed Nora and threw her to the ground, destroying her aura. Ren dug his blades into the creature’s arms and pried himself out of its grasp only to charge the beast for a third time.

Jaune got to his feet. “Ren, nock it off!”

But his teammate didn’t listen. The Grimm smacked him away, near where Nora was still laying on the ground.

The creature started charging them. Nora grabbed Ren and dove under one of the houses. Jaune and Little Red got the creature’s attention away from their teammates, giving them time to recover.

Neo used hush to stand back up. She could feel where the bruises would show up later. But aura or not, her team needed her help. She didn’t have the luxury of listening to her fear screaming at her to run away while she could. Not when the others were still fighting.

She extended her blade from her parasol and did what she could to help Jaune and Little Red. Jaune was using his sword to block some of the Grimm’s attacks while Little Red leapt from rooftop to rooftop taking shots at the creature before it could take a swing at her.

Neo ran to the creature’s side and dug her blade into its flank. Smoke streamed out of its wound as it tried to swat her. She dove under its legs to escape the other side.

With one solid hit to the rider by Little Red, the Grimm screamed and backed off towards the other side of the courtyard, trotting back and forth as it prepared another attack.

Ren and Nora stepped out from under the house and stared up at the creature. The rest of RNNJR regrouped with them.

“Ren? We can take care of the arms” Little Red gestured to herself, Jaune, and Neo.

Nora eagerly turned to Ren. “I’ll take care of the horse.”

“And I’ll take care of the rest,” he added.

Ren helped Nora climb up the tower they had both been held against earlier.

Little Red fired at the Grimm, enticing it to attack. As soon as it launched its arm at her, she leapt into the air then brough Crescent Rose down into its hand, pinning it to the road.

Neo ran to the distracted Grimm and pulled Hush from where she had left it. It screamed as she ran back towards Jaune. She gave her partner a nod just as she ran past. He plunged his longsword into the monster’s outstretched arm before it could catch her.

Nora, finished her climb to the top of the tower and stared down the Grimm below her. On ren’s cue, she transformed Magnhild and jumped from the roof. Her hammer crushed the horses head as she fell to the ground.

The Grimm screamed out as the horse died, collapsing to the cobblestone road.

Ren drew his knife as he approached the Grimm. In a single move, he cut one of the Grimm’s arms from its body. It screamed out and writhed in pain. He grabbed it by one of its curved horns and cut off the other arm. Then a slash to the creature’s chest before whispering “and for myself” and cutting off the Grimm’s head.

The body erupted into a column of black smoke.

Nora held onto Ren as Little Red ran to check on her uncle. Jaune pulled his sword from the ground, replaced it on his hip, and looked to Neo.

“Thank you for covering me back there.”

*When you first showed me what your longsword could do, I told you I’d cover you while you used it,* she replied as she looked over Hush. Of course, she did. What else would she have done?

A soft pinging suddenly broke through the wind. Like sonar through a shipwreck. Neo looked up to find two Mistrian airships descending out of the clouds and heading straight for them. As they landed, a group of airmen rushed out and took in the scene.

Nora directed them towards where Little Red and her uncle were, then explained what had happened.

The airmen helped them all aboard and took off immediately. Jaune, Little Red, and Qrow were in one ship while Neo joined Ren and Nora in the other.

They seemed to be having a moment, so Neo leaned against the opposite door on shaky legs. She held Roman’s hat as she leaned out into the rushing air. She’d missed feeling the wind in her hair; traveling more than just a few miles a day. After passing one more mountain range the kingdom of Mistral was suddenly in view. The place they had spent months hiking to was finally within reach. Waves of happiness and exhaustion rolled over her all at once.

She glanced back at the others. Little Red was sitting next to her uncle, watching over him as the airships started to descend. Ren and Nora were sitting together, holding hands, and looking out the other door. Only Jaune noticed her excited smile.

\---

The airships landed directly at the hospital. After a few sleepless hours, they told Little Red that her uncle would be fine and could be moved to a more comfortable place while the anti-venom took effect.

Mistral authorities helped the group find a place they could stay for as long as they were in the city. As far as sudden emergency housing went, Neo thought it was pretty luxurious: a kitchen, living room, balcony, two double bedrooms. There were apparently a lot of perks to being a registered Huntsman.

\---

Nora dropped her bags in the doorway with a loud crash. She made a running start towards the nearest bed, but Ren grabbed her before she could jump in it.

“Nora, no. I don’t know when the last time we slept under a roof was, let alone in a bed. We probably shouldn’t get all the dirt we collected across Anima in them.”

“But Ren, I’m so tired…” Nora tried to give her partner a sad look, but he wouldn’t back down.

“Shower first. Then you can sleep as long as you want. I think both rooms have their own bathrooms. You can take this one,” Ren tilted Nora toward the only other door in the room, “and I’ll go see what Ruby’s doing.”

Nora dragged her feet across the hardwood as she walked into the bathroom. The tiny clouds of dust coming off of her shoes made Ren’s point all on their own.

Neo turned to Jaune. After everything that had happened in the last twenty-four hours, she couldn’t believe how much energy those two still had. *Your friends are weird*

Jaune laughed as he moved Nora’s bags next to one of the beds. “Come on, after all this time, you’re starting to like us a little bit.”

Neo rolled her eyes and placed Hush down with the rest of their gear. *Maybe*

Ren stood in the doorway, ready to turn on his heel. “Ruby says she’s writing some letters and won’t shower for a bit, so we can use hers too. Jaune, you and I will take the furthest bed, and Neo and Nora can take the closer one!”

Jaune shook his head as he started the process of removing his armor. “I’m surprised all this held up as well as it has. My old armor would have been dented and probably broken into pieces by now.” He stacked the plates next to Crocea Mors. “How are you holding together?”

Neo looked down at herself. She couldn’t tell what shade of brown her shirt was anymore, but it definitely wasn’t crisp white. Her pants had even more holes in them, and her parasol had been bent in the last fight. She pulled her suspenders out with her thumbs then let them go to snap into place. Cracked mud and dirt fell to the floor as she stared down Jaune.

Nora finished first. Her hair was still wet when she hit the mattress. Neo figured that her muffled sighs meant that the beds were comfortable. It wasn’t long before she started to make snow angels on the covers.

Neo cocked an eyebrow at Jaune. He just watched Nora is disbelief and waved Neo into the bathroom.  
  
As soon as she closed the door, she could hear Nora pick her head up out of the covers and quietly talk to Jaune.

“You know Neo best, how do you think she’s doing?”

Neo turned on the hot water but waited near the sink to hear Jaune’s response.

“I think she’s starting to figure us out… maybe even starting to like us a little. I don’t think she hates us at least. She’s still sticking around for a little while.”

Nora’s tone sounded more playful now. “She definitely likes /you/.”

Neo could hear the grin in Jaune’s voice. She could imagine him rubbing his neck as he spoke. “I can have a conversation with her. Once you guys get the hang of signing better, and you can have better conversations, I think she’ll warm up to you too.”

She smiled, just a little. She took off Roman’s hat and placed it nicely on the counter. The rest of her dirty clothes she left in a pile with Nora’s. She was about to get in the shower when she caught her reflection in the mirror. It looked different. Not just because of the dirt and sweat on her face. But something deeper. Whatever she had been looking for in the mirror back from Tsubaki village; she could almost see it. It was almost there.

None of her hideouts in Vale had anything as fancy as Mistral offered, and the Inn that Little Red had found her in barely had running water. This was like a resort all on its own. The hot water helped her muscles finally relax since facing the Grimm in Kuroyuri. The water on the floor started to come out less and less muddy. Then the shampoo, the conditioner! She could almost cry.

After an embarrassing amount of time, Neo finally forced herself to get out and dry off. The fluffy towels at least helped ease her back into the real world. She put on the cleanest set of clothes she had, an old tank top and some underwear, and wondered if the house had their own laundry machines.

Neo stepped out of the bathroom to find Ren asleep in the far bed, with Nora lying next to him, upside down, and sprawled across the covers. An odd grin was still spread across the girl’s face.

Jaune was shirtless, hair pushed back, and kneeling over his bags. “It looks like Nora had other plans for the sleeping arrangements. I’m just putting my stuff away really quick, then I’ll be out of your hair. I’m taking the couch in the living room.” Neo thought he seemed genuinely happy to crash on a couch instead of a perfectly good bed after months of sleeping on the ground just because he was worried that she’d be uncomfortable. He could have just taken the bed anyway; he was back before she was.

*Don’t be stupid. You’re not sleeping on a couch. We can share*

Jaune seemed nervous. “Are you sure? It’s no problem…”

Neo gave him her best condescending look as she sat down on the bed.

Jaune raised his hands in submission. “Okay, okay.” He turned off the light and laid down on the opposite side from her, as deliberately close to the edge of the mattress as he could. “I think I might pass out in a second, so… if Nora starts snoring, just put a pillow under her head, that’s always worked for me.”

They were such a weird group of people. But. After all the time they’d spent getting to Mistral, she found herself almost feeling like she was one of them. Neo smiled and laid down. The bed felt like a pile of soft clouds that threatened to swallow her whole. She hoped she was tired enough to keep the nightmares away, but she didn’t hold out hope.

\---

Birds outside disturbed the late morning silence. Neo shifted her position slowly, eyes still closed, not wanting to wake up yet. But something was different. Her face felt warm, like she was in front of a heater. Something wrapped itself around her shoulders. Her arms and legs were tangled up. And her head was laying on something soft, rising and falling gently.

Neo realized what must have happened. Where she was. She would have pulled away, but Jaune’s arms around her were so relaxing, the warmth of his chest was so comfortable. She told herself she could just lay there awhile longer and move away before anyone woke up.

She shifted her position a bit again, nestling herself against him.

As she did, she felt Jaune pull her closer, more securely. One of his hands around her shoulders moved to support her head; as if she were restless, and he was trying to soothe her back to sleep.

The tenderness of it all made Neo drowsier; made her feel at peace for the first time since Mountain Glenn. She couldn’t even remember if she had the nightmares again.

A whisper brought Neo back to reality. It was Little Red. “We’re heading to the store, might look around the city too. Do you want to come?”

Jaune replied, his voice even quieter than hers. “I think we’re pretty exhausted. Next time?”

Neo could hear three very different sets of footsteps leave the room. “We’ll be back this afternoon, don’t cause any trouble without me!” Nora closed the door.

It was silent again.

Jaune was awake. She knew she’d have to face what happened eventually. She opened her eyes and looked up at him. He had already been looking down at her, a concerned look on his face. He immediately let go, offering her an escape. She didn’t take it. “Are you okay? I think you were having nightmares. This was the only thing that’d calm you down.”

She burned with embarrassment and self-directed anger. She hated the idea of someone knowing how weak she was. She hated receiving help from anyone. But especially…

“Here, I’ll…” Jaune started to pull away but Neo tightened her legs around his.

Jaune slowly put his arms around her again. “You can go back to sleep if you want. They said they wouldn’t be back until later.”

Neo gave him the slightest nod. This was a onetime thing. It had to be. It wouldn’t happen again.


	5. Chapter 5

A Knight and a Scoundrel

Chapter 5.1: Many More Questions than Answers

Jaune Arc

Jaune swung his longsword as hard as he could. Neo stepped out of his way with a mocking twirl. Again. No matter what he did, he couldn’t land a hit on her with Crocea Mors in its new configuration.

Neo rolled under his next swing. *You need to get faster. It won’t matter that you hit harder if- * She summersaulted back as he swung again. *…everything you fight can get out of the way.*

He tried a thrust next, but Neo stepped to the side, then kicked his legs out from under him. He fell to the floor, whacking his chin on the hardwood.

The back door scraped open. Jaune let go of Crocea Mors and rolled to his side to see Qrow standing in the doorway, amber glass in hand. “You two are still doing this? Why don’t you just train during the day like everyone else?”

Neo helped Jaune to his feet. “We do train during the day! We just train at night too.”

Qrow nodded, held up a finger, then took a drink. “Yeah, I’ve seen you two at it every night since halfway across Anima. You kids need sleep.” He pointed back into the house with his thumb. “We’re seeing Leo tomorrow morning. Need you all looking your best.”

Jaune picked up his sword and the two of them headed inside.

Qrow stopped them before they passed. “Your form’s getting better. Pretty soon you’ll be swinging that sword as fast as I do. But don’t give up your footing for an easy strike. As for you,” he pointed at Neo, “There just might be a teacher in there somewhere.”

Neo gave the huntsman an exaggerated sour face as they headed to their room. *He’s just trying to get under my skin… Me? A teacher? Disgusting. He’s just trying to agitate me.* Neo laid on their bed fuming as Jaune finished putting away their weapons.

“I don’t know, you’ve been helping me a lot.”

She stared up at the ceiling. *You’re different. You don’t count.*

Jaune laid down next to her. “Wow, thanks.”

Neo turned towards him. “That’s not what I meant! Working for a school, for a kingdom? Teaching kids how to just be another cog in the system? No thank you.”

“Is that what you think about the four kingdoms?”

*You either play by their rules, no matter how corrupt they are, or you live in constant fear of the Grimm. You saw all those towns in Anima. Mistral didn’t come to their aid even when they could have with the CCT towers all up. The kingdoms say settlements choose their own independence, but guess who keeps all the trained huntsmen?*

She was right. Jaune knew she was. He had seen it in Anima and in Vale. Heard stories about Mantle from Weiss. If you weren’t in a kingdom’s good graces, every day was a struggle. But he didn’t have a reply for her. Not one that would mean anything.

Neo tugged on his hoodie.

Jaune pulled her closer to his chest before wrapping his arms around her. After the first night in Mistral, it took her two days of nightmares to ask him to hold her again. She’d asked every night since.

He’d suspected for a long time that she didn’t sleep well; her bedding had always been strewn about in the mornings. But he had no idea how bad it really was. Now though, her night terrors seemed to be getting less frequent. And her apatite was improving. He didn’t mind. Truth be told, it helped him sleep better too.

*Last time.*

“Last time,” Jaune agreed. He smiled as he rested his chin on her head. Just like the last four nights in a row.

\---

Ruby quietly closed the headmaster’s door and followed the others out. Professor Lionheart hadn’t been able to tell them anything more about Salem’s plans or where any of her forces might be. He also couldn’t offer a single huntsman to their cause.

Jaune didn’t like that Qrow had kept another secret from them. That his bandit sister, Yang’s mom, had the Spring Maiden, and that only she could open the Haven Vault. He wondered what else the man might have forgotten to tell them.

“Well, that went, horribly.” Nora was the first to break the ice.

Qrow slouched forward as he led them back out of the Academy. “The council doesn’t own every huntsman in the kingdom. I’ll dig around, look up some old contacts, someone has to be able to help us.”

Ren perked up again. “Is there no way to convince your sister to help us peacefully?”

Qrow scoffed. “She and I never agreed on how to face Salem. Ultimately, I sided with Ozpin, trusted him to get us through. But Raven… only ever trusted herself. She won’t help us willingly. I’ve tried convincing her.”

Ruby looked defeated the whole way back to the entrance. Jaune admired her ability and drive to make allies. He’d seen it work throughout Anima. But he doubted if even she could change a bandit leader’s mind about Salem.

Qrow took them as far as the main road, then went his own way to start looking for huntsmen. Jaune was pretty sure he saw him turn into the nearest bar.

*Now what do we do?* Neo looked furious. She’d helped them this long for a chance to learn more about Cinder and Salem’s plans, and they’d all just come out of that meeting empty handed.

“We should go back to the house; people are still looking for Ruby. I don’t know what else we /can/ do, right now.”

The others started leaving, but Neo didn’t move. She just stared back at the school.

*I’ll be back later tonight. I have my own investigating to do.*

“I’ll come with you.”

*I can manage on my own, Jaune.*

“I know you can. But you’re my partner, I’m not letting you go alone.”

Neo rolled her eyes. If he hadn’t known her well enough, he’d think she was upset with him. But he could see the hint of pride at his stubbornness.

Jaune turned to the others and told them to head to the house without them. They would be back soon.

\---

Neo led him through the city and lower down the mountain side. If Haven academy sat near the peak of Mistral, then wherever they were going sat along its base.

The contrast to the markets and businesses above was staggering. Mistral’s class structure was literally stratified, with the richest living on top, and the poorest living below. What had been clear skies and warm daylight above turned into a constant foggy mist in the valley.

Jaune followed her even deeper into the city until they came across a small bar. It looked ordinary from the outside, maybe a little more well taken care of than the other local businesses.

“Is this the place?”

Neo held out her arm, stopping Jaune from moving closer to the building. She pointed Hush at an alley wall, indicating the spiderweb graffiti. *This whole part of town is run by the Spider’s Syndicate. Anything happens in Mistral, Lil’ Miss Malachite knows about it or will find out about it.* She looked up and down the street, then back at Jaune. *Let me do everything. You can come in, just, stay behind me.*

Neo hid her worry, took in a deep breath, and walked them into the bar.

Immediately Jaune could feel how much they didn’t belong inside. Everyone knew everyone else, all had matching color schemes, all had matching tattoos, all worked for the same group. The bar got quiet as the two outsiders walked in.

Neo strolled through the building, making her way directly to the back table. Some of the younger patrons gave her angry stares, but the older ones seemed to wave them off.

They came to a back counter surrounded by patrons. A man was trying to talk to the older woman behind the table, but her guard wouldn’t let him speak.

“You just come in here expecting us to work for you? We don’t even know you.” The woman reached into his pocket and pulled out his Lien. She flashed them to her boss before shoving them back against the man’s chest. “And you definitely can’t afford us. Now get out of here.” She pushed the man away and looked down at Neo apathetically. “And who the hell are you?”

The woman behind the table glanced up to see who had tried to talk to her next. Her eyes landed on Jaune first. She looked him up and down then frowned before noticing his partner. “Neopolitan, as I live and breathe. Exactly how long has it been since you last step foot in my humble parlor?”

Neo shot the guard a ‘you might be in trouble later’ look, then addressed the woman behind the table. *Years, Miss.* Another guard behind the table translated for her.

Jaune assumed this woman was Lil’ Miss Malachite. She didn’t look too scary on her own, she wore a fancy dress, and her hair was up in a bob. But the fear and respect she commanded was palpable. The bar hung on her every word. He tried to look as professional as he could.

“And who is this… young man with you?”

*Business associate. I was hoping you could help me.* Neo laid out a stack of Lien. As far as Jaune knew, it was just about all the money she had left.

Miss Malachite leaned back in her chair, considering the offer. “You’ve done such good work for me in the past, dear. And don’t think I forgot that you’re still owed a favor.” She tapped her cigarette out in a tray on the table. “Is this really what you want to use it on?”

Neo nodded.

“Alright then. Straight to business. Who are we looking for, and how can we contact you?”

Neo pulled out her scroll and showed Miss Malachite a series of photos of Cinder Fall, Mercury Black, and Emerald Sustrai. She handed her scroll to the woman. *They admitted to being from Mistral, as well as used fake records from Haven to gain access to the Vytal festival. They belong to a group run by a woman named Salem. Anything more about her would be appreciated.*

Miss Malachite forwarded the names and images to herself, then gave Neo back her scroll. “Stay in range. Local communications are still up. We’ll contact you when we find something. But this makes us /even/, darlin’.”

Neo nodded again. Miss Malachite seemed like the kind of woman you didn’t want to ask anything of, even owed a favor. Every word made Neo tense.

“I’m sorry to hear about Roman. I assume that’s what this is about? What a shame, that boy was moving up in the world. I thought he’d overtake Junior anytime and control Vale himself.” She patted Neo’s hand. “We’ll take care of it. And Neopolitan, dear? After this is over, if you ever need work, you know I’ll hire you.”

Neo thanked her, then turned to leave. She grabbed Jaune’s hand and tried to pull him along.

“One moment.”

Neo stiffened. Jaune could see her jaw clench as she held her breath.

Miss Malachite leaned forward. “Young man? Judging by your sword and those eyes, you wouldn’t happen to be an Arc, would you?”

Jaune wasn’t sure what kind of trouble they were in. Neo squeezed his hand, hard. He didn’t know what else to do but answer her. “Yes ma’am.”

She studied his face again, then relaxed back into her chair. “Interesting.”

Neo pulled him out of the bar and refused to let go of his hand until they were back in the market district, in view of the house. She wouldn’t explain why.

\---

Qrow had been in and out of the house for days, constantly looking for huntsmen to join them, but each time came home drunk and empty handed, his list a few names shorter.

All RNNJR could do was wait. They’d train on the balcony or run to the store occasionally. After nearly a year of traveling Remnant, waiting around felt stagnant.

Jaune, Neo, Ren, and Nora were sitting in the living room, rediscussing Nora’s insistence that the basilisk Grimm were technically insects, when there was a knock at the door.

They looked at each other, wondering who it could be. The idea of Tyrian or another one of Salem’s pawns finding them put everyone on edge.

Jaune stood up and walked to the door. Neo stood on the opposite side. She gave him a nod. Jaune cracked the door open.

A small, rustic, farm-boy was nervously waiting on their doorstep. Jaune didn’t know what to make of the kid. “Uh, can I help you?”

The boy stood quietly for a moment before responding, “Um… yeah. Is there a Ruby Rose here?”

Nora immediately stood up. “Why?”

The boy froze. Jaune couldn’t tell what was happening. He didn’t seem to be a threat himself, but that didn’t mean he wasn’t there to scout them out anyway.

Suddenly Qrow staggered into view and leaned against the kid before declaring, “I found him!” triumphantly and stumbled inside. He crashed onto the nearest sofa, face first.

The boy turned back to Jaune. “I think her uncle could use some help?”

Qrow was mumbling into the cushion, slurring his words. “I did it! I found him!”

Jaune wondered if this boy had somehow been persuaded to their cause. He didn’t feel very reassured.

Ruby came out of her room in a huff. “What is going on out here? Can’t a girl read her comics in peace!?” She noticed her uncle on the couch. “Uncle Qrow? Did you get drunk again?”

“Maybe…” He drew out the word as he tried to sit up.

The boy took another step into the room, closer to Ruby. “You have silver eyes…”

Ruby looked to the rest of her team, as if to ask what was happening. Ren and Nora shrugged.

She addressed the boy, “Who are you?” Qrow chuckled to himself at her question.

“Uh, well… My name is Oscar Pine.”

“Wait for it…” Qrow stammered.

“You probably know me as Professor Ozpin.”

What? The room stopped. Professor Ozpin? Jaune had seen him fight Cinder at Beacon. She wouldn’t have left him alive. And now this kid is claiming to be their headmaster?

Qrow started laughing harder as he tried to sit himself up. “I did it!” He raised his hands in victory before falling onto the floor.

\---

“It is so very good to see you again, students.”

After everything Qrow had told them about Salem, magic, and the Gods, Ozpin reincarnating really didn’t seem that impossible anymore.

RNNJR listed as their headmaster explained his curse by the Gods to reincarnate with a like-minded soul as his atonement for failing to stop Salem in the past. He also guessed that with classes at Haven about to start again in a month, Cinder would strike the academy soon. He finished with telling them all how proud of them he was, but that their growth didn’t stop there.

“Miss Rose might be effective with her scythe, but still lacks in hand-to-hand combat. Mr. Arc has yet to unluck his semblance. Even miss Neopolitan could stand to strengthen her aura.” He looked back at the girl standing off to the side of the room. “Yes, I’m well aware of what you’ve done for my students since I’ve been gone. Even Oscar here could use some training. My memories will come to him in time, but, practice will help them come to him sooner.”

Ruby looked at Ozpin, then at her uncle. “But with Qrow out searching for huntsmen, who’s going to teach us?”

Ozpin smirked and twirled his cane. “I do believe I used to be the headmaster of a training school.”

A Knight and a Scoundrel

Chapter 5.2: Warming Ice and a Cold Heart

Weiss Schnee

Weiss held onto Yang as they drove through the portal. Everything flashed red, then instantly they were parked on a balcony high above Mistral. Qrow was staring at them with a proud smile.

Yang leapt off of Bumblebee and threw a hug around her uncle.

“Hey firecracker. It’s good to see you.” Qrow hugged her back.

“Is Ruby still with you?”

Qrow nodded. “Yeah. They’re all just inside. We were expecting different guests tonight but, I’m sure they’ll be happy to see you.” He started to walk them in, then stopped to tousle Weiss’s hair. “Good to see you too, Weiss.” He wasn’t as bad as she had remembered. Maybe watching over Ruby for so long had made him grow up a little.

He led them inside and towards the kitchen. “Ruby? Come out here. There’s someone who wants to see you.”

Ruby stepped out of the kitchen mid argument with someone behind her. She looked so much older than Weiss expected. She wasn’t entirely the inexperienced dolt she used to be.

Ruby immediately started apologizing to Yang for all sorts of things. But eventually her sister pulled her into a hug.

Yang whispered, “I love you” and Ruby whispered it back.

Weiss didn’t think their reunion would have such an effect on her. She knew how hard Yang had been trying to fight her way to her sister. And watching them finally be together again was a lot. He wondered what Winter would have done, under similar circumstances.

Ruby peaked her head over her sister’s shoulder. “Weiss?” Her partner held out her arm. She hurried to them and hugged Ruby as hard as she could. She had missed her so much while she was in Atlas.

When she opened her eyes, the rest of her friends were standing awkwardly just outside the kitchen. They had been carrying out an assortment of food and setting the table.

Ren looked just like she remembered him, maybe with a few ounces more of serenity. Nora hadn’t changed a day, all excitement and energy. Jaune looked entirely different, his armor outlined in Pyrrha’s gold, his shoulders wide with real confidence. And next to him was- “Oh!”

Yang opened her eyes and followed Weiss’s stare. She pulled away from their hug and took a step towards the others. “What is /she/ doing here?” Yang pointed a gauntleted finger at the girl standing next to Jaune.

Ruby tried to calm down her sister. “It’s okay. Neopolitan is one of us now. She- ”

“One of us? She helped them destroy Beacon! Because of her, people we care about got hurt, went missing, died!”

Neopolitan squeezed her eyes shut and grimaced.

Yang continued. “Does she really think she could just show up and we’d all forgive her? That she can act like none of the pain she caused had ever happened?”

Her sister tried to explain. “We found Neo in Anima. She helped us get this far.”

Yang whipped around. “No Ruby. Uncle Qrow helped you through Anima. She just hitched a free ride.” She brushed off Ruby’s hand. “I’m going outside.” She walked back the way they’d come. Ruby followed after her.

Neopolitan gave Jaune whatever she had been holding, and quietly hurried away into a different room. He tried to follow her, but Qrow put a hand on his shoulder. The huntsman cocked his head in the direction she had gone, but said he was going to “check on Oscar.”

The room was silent now. JNR were exchanging worried glances. A silent argument was being had outside.

Weiss wondered how much of that had actually been about Neopolitan, and how much had been about Blake.

\---

Ruby was eventually successful in bringing her sister back inside. Qrow collected three bowls of noodles then left them alone for the evening.

Weiss, Ruby, Yang, Ren, Nora, and Jaune all sat around the massive pot of food. Weiss thought it would be awkward, after being away from them for so long, but after a while it was like they had never left the Beacon cafeteria.

Yang looked into the noodle pot. “Why did you guys make so much food? There’s no way we can eat all of this!”

Ren explained they were hoping that Qrow was bringing huntsmen to help them with their plan, but he couldn’t find any in town.

“And speak for yourself, maybe /you/ can’t finish this much food…” Nora added.

They went around the table, telling stories of what they had been through in the last year. Weiss explained what had happened once her father forced her back home and how she had unleashed her summons on a group of inconsiderate charity guests.

“Did you really write a whole new song just to tell your father that he couldn’t control you anymore?” Ruby gasped as she listened to her story.

“I mean. It’s really his fault for putting me up on a stage to sing whatever I want to.”

Yang explained that she had been training in Patch for a long time before driving out to Anima to look for Ruby. She also went into particular detail about a night Doctor Oobleck and Professor Port visited their home. She even retold their story. Imagining Qrow in a skirt on the day they were dropped into the Emerald Forest… how Ruby’s mother ever agreed to be his partner was a fact lost to time.

Nora and Yang started an arm-wrestling match across the table, eager to tell who had the stronger arm. Before the match could be called, Yang detached her prosthetic, sending Nora flying out of her seat.

Ruby told stories about Anima. Traveling for weeks at a time between villages, slaying Grimm, and fighting bandits. It sounded like they had worked together really well. Even managing to slay Grimm that they would have thought impossible to defeat a year ago. Weiss noticed holes in Ruby’s stories; places where another character had been that she didn’t want to bring up. “Can you imagine it? Jaune was so cool! He charged that Grimm head on! Even blocked its attacks with just his sword!”

Jaune was keeping his head down, trying to redirect the story. Weiss hadn’t been around him for over a year but, he seemed off. Like back before he dealt with Cardin. “Yeah, well, Nora crushed its body with one swing of her hammer, no aura left at all. Then Ren finished it with a knife.”

“It sounds like Vomit Boy has come a long way from crushing on Weiss and sleeping through classes” Yang teased him

Jaune picked up their empty bowls and walked them into the kitchen. “We’re bringing nicknames back, wonderful.”

Weiss had to laugh at Vomit Boy. It was a classic and so unfitting anymore it made it even funnier.

Nora instantly defended Jaune. “The ice queen seems to like it”

Weiss rolled her eyes at Nora, but she couldn’t resist the smile growing on her face. “I so didn’t miss you people”

“Oh my gosh! She really does like it!” Nora leaned in closer. “What went and warmed your heart while you were gone?”

“Hey! You make me sound like I used to be terrible.”

Yang added in. “Just a lot to deal with at once”

“It’s been a long time. We’ve all grown in our own ways.” Ren looked around at everyone in the room.

Ruby turned to him. “You really think so?”

“Well, think back to when we were all at Beacon.” Ren closed his eyes. “Would you say that you ever did anything foolish or embarrassing? Or do you think you were perfect?”

“Oh gosh…” Yang stammered. “I might have been a bit, impulsive from time to time…” That was definitely true and had gotten them in trouble on multiple occasions.

Ruby laughed. “You? I tried to one-v-one a Nevermore on the second day of school. Also true, but the first thing she had respected about her partner.

“Yeah well, don’t even get me started” Jaune came back into the room and leaned against the wall. Weiss had really thought she knew everything about Jaune Arc the moment she saw him at orientation. But the Beacon Dance proved her wrong. And now? He had definitely grown.

“Well, that embarrassment, that desire to go back and tell yourself not to be so stupid? That just proves you’re not the same person you used to be. You’re smarter, kinder, stronger, and you’re not done growing yet. None of us are.” Ren had been looking around at all of them throughout his speech, but Wiess wondered if he ended on Yang on purpose.

But he was right. Weiss thought back to her earlier self and almost didn’t recognize her. Prejudiced, rude, cocky, a massive superiority complex, and blind to how caring her friends were. She’d gained a family at Beacon. And they’d all played a part in changing her.

Everyone went quiet for a moment before Ruby broke the silence. “Yeah, turns out Ren gets really deep when he feels like talking.” The tension broke and everyone started laughing again.

Nora slammed her hands on the table. “Well hold on. I thought I was pretty great in school!”

Without hesitation, Yang looked up. “Even at the dance when you spilled punch all over yourself?”

“Yes, especially at the dance! Thank you, Yang!”

\---

Weiss had finally managed to have a heart to heart with Yang, and it went about as expected. She missed Blake, but that pain and sadness had turned into anger a long time ago. She was upset that her partner left her alone after Beacon. The way her mother had left her alone. Weiss had tried to reassure her, but, short of a miracle she didn’t think Yang would be over Blake any time soon.

Weiss had known about their dates on the town and how they snuck away to be in the gardens during class. They hadn’t been particularly sneaky. And besides, her life had made her very good at picking up on the smallest details.

She wondered what would have happened if Blake had stayed. If things had gone differently for Yang. Most of all she wondered what their teammate was doing, and if she was alright.

\---

Weiss couldn’t sleep. Being around everyone again, training with Ruby and Yang, just made her too excited. It made her happier than she’d been since leaving Beacon. Not that she’d ever admit that to Ruby.

She crept out of bed and headed towards the balcony they had arrived on. She figured some night air would help her relax. But she paused. Voices were coming from the living room. Out of habit, she snuck into the hallway and eavesdropped on what they were saying.

Qrow’s gruff voice was unmistakable. “This is important news. Cinder Fall, her two student underlings, and an Atlesian man were recently seen heading towards the Branwen camp? You’re sure this intel is good?”

Ozpin’s calculated voice was equally unmistakable. “I’m inclined to believe Neopolitan. This report is from the Spider Syndicate. While I don’t usually employ the help of such individuals, I do recognize their talents. It seems Salem has found your sister at last and aims to persuade her into giving up the Spring Maiden.”

Weiss could hear someone stand up. “Then we need to get there now!” Qrow let out a frustrated whisper.

“There’s no point. We both know how that’s going to play out if Salem insists.”

“Leo said to meet him tomorrow night at the school, he’s gotten support from the Mistral council and is getting together a group of huntsmen to help us. Maybe with that we can- ”

“Isn’t that very different from what he originally told you?”

Qrow hesitated. “Yeah, it is.”

“We may need to be extra cautious. The timing of all of this… I don’t like it.”

Weiss could hear a metal flask opening and closing. “Me neither Oz. Me neither.”

A Knight and a Scoundrel

Chapter 5.3: Threads of Fate Intertwined and Severed

Neopolitan

Qrow opened the heavy wooden doors of Haven’s main building and let everyone inside.

Neo thought back to Tsubaki village. Living alone, looking out for herself. But now, she was surrounded by a group of six former students and their professor trapped in the body of a farm-boy. Everything had escalated so quickly.

And yet, maybe nothing really changed that much at all. She glanced at Yang. The girl’s first reaction to seeing her again still stung in Neo’s head like a constant dull ache. She hadn’t been able to get it out of her mind since.

They walked into the main foyer and paused before a statue of a beautiful woman. Professor Lionheart stood on the balcony above them.

“Why hello. Thank you for, erm, coming.” The man seemed too tongue-tied for a professor. “There seems to be more of you than last time…”

Qrow stood at the front of the group. “You know what they say, the more the merrier. So, what’s going on with the council?”

The professor got worried as he looked them over. “Why… did you bring your weapons?” He slid his arms behind his back, along with what had looked like a dust enhanced bracer.

“Leo, we’re huntsmen.” Qrow was taken-aback. “You okay?”

“Of course, of course! Sorry. Just haven’t had my evening coffee.” The professor tried to sound calm.

Neo could guess what was about to happen. She knew Qrow and Ozpin could too. She had told them about what Miss Malachite had found for her. Salem was taking allies in Haven. And she must have had one in the Academy itself.

Yang noticed a raven perched on a beam above them. “Mom?”

Qrow instantly drew his weapon and fired a shot at the bird.

The corvid flew off to Lionheart’s side and transformed into a woman with long black hair and deep red armor. She removed her helmet. Underneath, she looked just like Yang, but with deep red eyes. “If you’re going to shoot me, then shoot me. /That/ was insulting.”

Qrow kept his sword drawn. “What are you doing here?”

Raven walked down to their level. “I could ask you the same thing. You’ve been scheming little brother: planning to attack your own sister.”

Qrow might have been holding out hope for Lionheart, but this confirmed his betrayal. “Leo, what have you done?”

Raven cut off the professor before he could speak for himself. “Leo did what any sane person would in his position. He looked at all the information he had in front of him, assessed the situation, and made a choice. And it seems you all have too.” She stared down her daughter as she finished her speech.

Qrow stepped forward. “You have the Spring Maiden- ”

“I do.”

He sheathed his weapon onto his back. “Then hand her over and let’s work together. We can beat Salem!”

She stared him down. “All that time spent spying for Ozpin and you still have no idea what you’re dealing with. There /is/ no beating Salem!”

Little Red suddenly spoke up. “You’re wrong. We’ve done things most people would call impossible. And I know the only reason we were able to do it was because we didn’t do it alone. We had people to teach us, people to help us, we had each other. Work with us. At least I know we’ll have a better chance if we try together. Please.” She held out her hand to Raven. Neo admitted, Little Red’s speeches had been annoying at first but, they had started to grow on her.

Raven looked down on the girl. “You sound just like your mother.” She pulled her katana and swung it in the air beside her. A swirling red vortex opened up in the room unleashing a fireball directly at Little Red.

Cinder Fall came sauntering out of the portal followed by Mercury, Emerald, and a girl Neo assumed was from Raven’s tribe. The witch spoke with a honeyed voice. “Hello boys and girls.”

\---

Cinder Fall. The Fall Maiden. The woman who hired Roman to terrorize Vale and upload her Atlesian virus. The woman who got him killed. The witch who tore away Neo’s only purpose.

Neo grabbed Roman’s hat, feeling the felt brim, squeezing it tight before pretending to politely place her hands behind her back. She held Hush with a vice-like grip.

Qrow put his hand out. “Everyone, stay calm.”

The main doors opened. A tall, muscular man walked in and secured the doors shut. “The White Fang is prepping demolition and securing the school grounds. No one is getting in. And no one is getting out.”

The White Fang? Neo could feel her heart racing, like a living nightmare. It was all happening again.

Weiss looked around. “So, this really was all just a trap?”

“It appears so.” Ren confirmed.

Qrow turned back to his sister. “Raven, tell me, how long have you been with them?”

Cinder answered for her in mock empathy. “Aww, don’t take it personally little bird, your sister was a recent addition. The lion on the other hand…” She paused, letting her words sink in on Qrow. “Entrance to the Vytal festival was a real treat. But Leonardo has been sending Salem all sorts of information for a very, very long time. Isn’t that right professor?”

Neo had never known where their papers had come from. She was just spirited away from Roman when they needed her. But to find out it was the headmaster himself.

A sudden realization tore all of the color from Qrow’s face. “It was you. You sit on the Mistral council. You had information on every Huntsman and Huntress in the kingdom. And you gave it all to /her/. I couldn’t find… any of them… because you let her kill them!”

“Now, now, don’t beat yourself up about it, Lionheart. I’m sure Tyrian and Hazel would have found them on their own eventually.” Cinder teased them. No doubt relishing in the pain she was causing.

Neo had been too focused on Cinder. She didn’t notice her partner had gone quiet. Had started trembling.

“What is wrong with you? How can you be so broken inside? To take so many lives, then come here and rub it in our faces like its something to be proud of?” Jaune’s voice was cracking as he got louder.

“Jaune?” Nora looked to her teammate.

“All with that damn smile on your face!” Jaune stared down Cinder, tears rolling down his cheeks. Neo hadn’t seen him like this in a long time. Not since that night she found him training alone. But this was so much worse.

Yang activated her gauntlets. Little Red drew Crescent Rose. Everyone around them prepared for the inevitable. Qrow tried to stop them, but he couldn’t.

Jaune took a step closer to Cinder, screaming at her now. “I’m going to make you pay for what you did. Do you hear me? Well? Say something!”

The witch stared back at him. She replied with a flat tone, completely uncaring. “Who are you, again?”

Jaune broke. He drew Crocea Mors as a long sword and ran at Cinder.

That was all Neo needed. She had known all this time that this was the moment Jaune had been training so hard for. This was what he had traveled across Anima to find. She knew it, because she had too. She drew Hush’s blade and followed behind him.

Little Red called after them, but Neo didn’t really hear her. Didn’t really care. There was one goal in front of her. And she was going to finish it.

Neo used her semblance to make Cinder think Jaune was moving just slower than he really was. When the witch created her own obsidian sword to block his attack, she missed entirely. She swung in the air just beside his blade, while his slash went unguarded.

Cinder staggered backward from the heavy hit. Neo didn’t let the woman collect herself. She leapt over Jaune and aimed her blade at Cinder’s head. The Maiden dodged from side to side as Neo attempted to run her through. 

“Neo?” The witch seemed actually surprised to see her as she parried their attacks. She materialized a second glass sword into her off hand. “You’re friends with Ruby now? I never would have guessed you’d forget about Roman so easily.”

Neo shot her a scowl before extending Hush and staggering her backward again.

Cinder barely had the time to block Jaune’s next swing. She caught his sword between hers and shoved him away, giving herself some reprieve.

Neo used the chance to activate her semblance again, sending a fake copy of herself at Cinder while she really circled around behind her.

Cinder took the bait and shattered the copy with her swords. Neo landed her first kick to Cinder’s outstretched arm, making her drop one of her weapons, then followed through her spin to kick her in the face as she turned around.

The witch grabbed Neo’s foot on her next kick and tried to throw her. But as soon as she let go Neo extended Hush, dropped safely to her feet, and returned to their fight.

One on one, Cinder could parry Jaune’s slower attacks. But, with a few tricks of Neo’s semblance, Jaune was landing consistent blows as she wore the Maiden down with fast attacks that she was too busy to avoid. 

It seemed like they were making progress, even shattered one of her swords, until Cinder superheated the shards that littered the floor and caused an explosion. Neo had been too far away from Jaune to protect him with Hush. He was knocked to the ground hard while she was still standing behind her shield.

Neo lunged at Cinder again, delivering a series of kicks and blocking all of Cinder’s attacks with her parasol.

“This thing really is annoying,” Cinder growled as she caught Hush with an open hand.

Neo tried to pull away, but the witch wouldn’t let go. Hush began to warm and glow bright red. The parasol’s canopy ignited as its shaft began to warp. Wide eyed, Neo clicked the release and pulled her sword out of its parasol sheath. Cinder broke Hush in two, letting its remains fall to the floor. Neo thrust her now searing hot blade at the Maiden, but Cinder caught her arm and used a fireball to blast her away.

Without her parasol, Neo couldn’t stop herself from crashing into a cabinet against the back wall. Her aura exploded into a fine pink dust as she laid under the broken wood. She had grossly underestimated what a Maiden could do. Cinder had been holding back for their entire fight.

Cinder pointed her sword and laughed at Jaune as he tried to stand up. “I’m starting to remember you. You’re the dense one who can’t tell when he’s out of his league.”

Weiss cried out from across the foyer as her aura completely broke. Jaune turned to look for her.

Cinder peered closer to Jaune. “Are you going to let her die too?”

“Stop messing with me!”

Cinder used her honey sweet tone again as her obsidian sword burst into flame. “If that’s what you want.” She leapt at Jaune, ready to end their fight.

A blinding white light filled the room as Little Red yelled.

When everything came back into view Cinder was suddenly on her knees clutching her left arm. And Jaune was still running towards her. He thrust his sword at her mid step. She tried to dodge it but was only barely able. His sword scraped against the side of her face, chipping her mask. Neo hoped it also left a gash across her cheek.

But Jaune’s momentum kept him moving forward. He lost his footing and fell to the ground.

Whatever game she had been playing with them ended. Her eyes were literally ablaze as she stood up and stamped her heel down onto Jaune’s stomach. “Did you think you actually had a chance against me? You!?”

Neo struggled to pick herself up, trying to get to her partner in time. She picked up her blade and moved as fast as she could back towards Cinder.

The Maiden sneered at her, then looked back to Jaune as he tried to grab his sword. Her eyes calmed and she dropped her tone, choosing to humiliate him again. “You’re just a failure with a death wish.”

But Jaune kept struggling. “If I die buying them time, then it’s worth it. They’re the ones that matter” he looked back to Neo, then at Ren and Nora.

In that moment Cinder realized how to hurt Jaune the most. She smiled, “Is that so?” A glass spear materialized in her hand as she stepped off of his stomach. She aimed it at Weiss. 

Jaune cried out, “No!”

Neo tried to make it to Cinder in time. She failed.

\---

“Weiss!” Jaune shouted for her as he got to his feet.

Cinder grinned before turning back to Jaune and Neo.

Neo knew he needed to go to her. She’d overheard what Yang had said at their reunion dinner. She gripped her sword tighter, pointed it at him, swept it towards Weiss, then put herself between him and Cinder. She didn’t understand why she couldn’t look him in the eye. *Go.*

Jaune ran to Weiss as Cinder created a new sword.

“You really don’t know how to stop, do you little girl?” Cinder stared her down. “Do you think he even noticed that your aura broke too? Hmm, I did.”

Neo brought up her sword and forced a frown.

Cinder charged her again, layering hit after hit against her. Even with just her thin sword, Neo managed to parry the Maidens half-hearted attacks. But nothing more. Without her aura, it would have to be enough.

“It’s not just a boy. It’s Ozpin!” Lionheart shouted as the larger man from before held him in the air.

Cinder’s smile dropped and suddenly turned serious again. She knocked aside Neo’s sword with ease and kicked her in the chest. Neo crashed against the main doors and collapsed to the ground.

“Ozpin is here?” Cinder looked up to her allies.

Raven met her. “Is that a problem?”

“I’m not sure…” She looked out to everyone fighting. Weiss and Little Red were both unconscious. Jaune was standing over Weiss and Neo was on the floor. “…but right now, we have the upper hand. Let’s not waste it. Leo, open the path to the vault”

The headmaster hurried to the statue they had stood in front of before and placed his pocket watch in its lock. The entire column fell to the floor, revealing itself to be an elevator. Cinder, Raven, and Raven’s Spring Maiden climbed aboard and descending into the vault.

From her spot next to an unconscious Little Red, Nora shouted to Yang to stop them.

Yang tried but was quickly blocked by Emerald and Mercury.

Neo winced and used her sword to push herself up. She wasn’t going to be much of any help to Nora, Ren, or Jaune looking after their hurt friends. And she didn’t have the aura to fight with Qrow and Ozpin. But she knew something about assassins and illusionists.

Nora looked Neo over as she limped by Little Red. “Neo, are you okay?” She sounded extremely worried. But Neo brushed it off. No, she wasn’t okay. She was furious with herself. She had one goal. And she couldn’t carry it out. Cinder was too strong. She had been useless.

She could still pick out Jaune’s voice in the confusion. “No, no, no. Not again. Weiss, come on, please!”

Neo gritted her teeth and hurried to stand next to Yang, opposite Emerald and Mercury. The blonde reloaded her gauntlets and glanced to her side. There was some kind of mix of distrust and appreciation on her face.

Mercury attacked Yang again. The two of them quickly exchanged blows.

Neo pointed her sword at Emerald.

“You could have joined us after Beacon.” Emerald pointed her guns back at her. “You chose this.”

It wasn’t Emerald Neo was facing anymore. Roman stood in front of her, his cane raised.

A solid knot formed in Neo’s chest. She pushed back whatever feelings were threatening to come out, on top of her crushing failure, and tried to focus on the illusion. Instead of evading the fake dust bombs, she dove toward Roman. She swiped out with her sword in a large circle, slicing Roman in two. She caught something solid as the illusion broke.

Neo stared down the amateur illusionist.

Emerald extended the sickles from her pistols and they fought on more open terms. “Wow! You really didn’t even hesitate to cut through him huh? He must have been nothing to you!” Emerald had learned a trick from Cinder. And it was working.

Neo could feel the tears streaming down her face and dripping from her chin. Felt the heavy pain in her chest that threatened to burst. She tried to use that pain to keep going. But without any aura, and after being thrown around by Cinder, Neo was collecting gashes and bruises quickly.

Jaune’s cries broke through the noise again. “It wasn’t supposed to be like this. We can’t lose anyone else.”

With renewed frustration, Neo knocked aside Emerald’s weapons with her sword and punched the girl in the face with her free hand. She staggered backward as Yang sent Mercury flying into her. They both fell to the ground. Yang gave a quick cheer.

Little Red was finally up, she ran behind them towards Jaune and Weiss. Neo turned to see Jaune kneeling over Weiss, healing her with his new-found semblance. So many emotions ran through her mind. Confusion, relief, anger, jealousy. She didn’t want to think about it. She wanted to be happy he unlocked his semblance for her.

Mercury crossed his arms and smirked as Emerald created copies of him in a circle around them. “You want to get through us? You have to get through all of us.”

Neo coughed and tried to catch her breath as she stood back-to-back with Yang. She knew any one of the Mercury copies could be the real him, or none of them at all. They tried to avoid Emeralds gunfire by the sound of the pistols alone. It wasn’t going well until Little Red joined them. She sliced through scores of the fake Mercurys at a time until only the real version remained.

Yang turned to her sister. “Thanks sis’. Are you okay?”

Little Red brought up Crescent Rose and glared at their opponents. “No. I’m angry.”

While Yang was a great fighter, her sister had the most energy and aura left out of anyone in the room. The three of them together were able to push back Emerald and Mercury all the way to the elevator.

The air filled with the metallic pinging Neo had heard in Kuroyuri village. Airships outside began circling the building, claiming to be authorities, and shining spotlights through the windows. Neo never thought she’d be on the receiving end of Mistral police aid.

Emerald and Mercury both looked around. Their plan must not have been going the way they intended.

A newly healed Weiss walked towards the center of the room, kneeled down, and created a massive glyph on the floor. An entire Queen Lancer rose out of the glyph and into the air. Before anyone could stop it, the summon had already harpooned the man Qrow and Ozpin had been fighting, dragging him back inside the building.

Neo doubled over as the fighting started again. She couldn’t keep going. She dropped her sword as she tried to stand on shaky legs. Before she could fall, she felt Jaune’s gauntleted hands help her stay steady.

A rippling light of white aura started to flow over her body. Her exhaustion began to fade as he helped her sit down. She looked up at him. The anger and pain that had been behind his eyes was gone. Now it was just regret behind oceans of blue.

“Thank you, Neo. For everything, thank you.” He looked out at the fighting around them, then back to her. He smiled as her cuts and bruises started to disappear.

Neo pushed his hands away when his aura started to flicker. He conceded and helped her back to her feet. She was still shaky, but she didn’t want to end this fight on the ground. She leaned against him for support.

Blake ran inside with enough time to see the chaos erupting around them. She called to her partner, but Yang didn’t have the time to reply. Little Red directed her to the elevator while Mercury and Emerald were still distracted.

Yang ran for her chance. Mercury caught her right arm, but she detached her prosthetic and leapt down the shaft after Cinder and her mother.

\---

With Weiss and Nora both super charged and Little Red and Blake at full strength, they were able to push back Salem’s remaining forces, putting them on the defensive. The White Fang had been taken care of outside and Lionheart had run away to his office.

Little Red addressed the three remaining fighters. “It’s over!”

Mercury and Emerald flanked either side of their last comrade. “It’s not over. Cinder will come back. She’ll have the relic. She won’t let us down!” Emerald shouted back.

The sound of the elevator rising brought everything to a halt. Everyone watched to see who would come out.

Yang was standing on the platform alone, holding the Relic. She jumped down and joined her team.

Emerald cried and fell to her knees. The room suddenly turned black as the image of a terrifying witch with skin white as snow and eyes red as blood loomed over them, then screamed as she descended upon them.

When the illusion cleared Emerald, Mercury, and the man were gone.

Blake looked around the foyer, her ears tilted back. “What was that?”

“An illusion, but an accurate one.” Ozpin stepped forward “That, was Salem”

Silent Knight

Chapter 5.4: Regret

Neopolitan

Neo wrote her letter, sealed it in an envelope, and placed it next to Jaune where she had been sleeping. If he knew what she was doing, he would try to stop her. Persuade her to stay. And she didn’t think she would be able to do it.

He’d be okay. He didn’t need her. He had his friends back now.

She looked at Nora and Ren asleep across from them. They’d be sad too. Maybe Ren would be able to help them feel better. He always stayed the calmest whenever the others were upset.

Neo silently picked up her bag and snuck through their bedroom window. The early morning fog had just started to roll into the mountains. She looked down towards the valley, seeing nothing but grey.

She circled around to the other bedroom, checking in on RWBY.

Little Red and Weiss were sound asleep in the first bed. Little Red, Ruby, would take good care of everyone. Neo trusted that. And Weiss was a lovely person. She could tell why the girl was so well liked. By everyone.

Blake and Yang were asleep in the other bed, spaced out to the edges of the mattress the same way she and Jaune had been the first night. Blake seemed nice. And Yang…

Yang had been right. It took her awhile to see it, but she was right. Saving Haven hadn’t made her feel any better about her past. Being around them had just made her feel worse. She hadn’t been strong enough to kill Cinder alone. They were about to head to Atlas. Where she’s a known and wanted criminal.

She would only make his life harder by staying around. Everyone’s lives.

Besides, it’s what she had told them from the start. ‘Only as far as Mistral.’

She circled around to the front of the building, hopping the fence and landing on the sidewalk. Neo forced down her regret and started downhill.

“Heading out already, huh?” A gruff voice caught her off guard. She looked over her shoulder to see Qrow sitting on the front steps. “Staying around Mistral, or going to Vacuo?” He was holding her letter in his hand, still sealed.

She faced him with a scowl.

“I get it. You think you hurt people. Everyone ends up leaving you or getting hurt so you want to leave first and spare them their share. This isn’t the first time I’ve stopped you.” He took a long drink from his flask. “No judgment. Hey, I practically invented this move. I’ve run away from every good thing in my life worth keeping because I was so afraid of losing it. If you’re going to leave, leave. I’m not going to hold you prisoner. I’ll put this right back where I found it.” The old huntsman stared down at the letter next to him.

Neo didn’t move. She didn’t want to go. Not really. Not when she was just starting to feel like a part of JNPR. But everything good in her life had always been stripped from her. Her family, Roman, her purpose. It was all gone.

Making up for Beacon was a penance she was willing to bear. Killing Cinder for all of the lives the witch ruined was a burden she was willing to carry. Alone. But both of those were so far away now.

There was only one thing left that brought her any kind of peace and Qrow was right. She wanted to run as far away from him as she could before she ruined it. Or caused him any more pain.

'It’s taken me too long to realize what I should have done differently. And I’ve spent years trying to make up for it. Just make sure whatever you choose, you’re happy.” Qrow finished his flask and relaxed against the steps.

He looked back up when Neo was blocking his sunlight. He smiled as she kicked his leg and walked back inside, tearing up her letter as she went. He called after her, “Oh hey! I already bought your train ticket, just in case!”


	6. Chapter 6

A Knight and a Scoundrel

Chapter 6._: You Don’t Want the Burden of My Name

Qrow Branwen

\--- 17 years ago ---

“Qrow, you bastard!” Tai stormed out onto the porch. “You know, I really thought you were different. But something gets hard and you run away! Maybe that’s what the Branwen’s are really good at.”

Qrow gripped the rail to keep his hands from shaking. “You don’t know what you’re talking about.”

Tai shoved him to the ground. “Oh, I do! Summer just told me everything, your whole plan! You just want them to stay here? We pretend to be a happy family so you can just run away from every responsibility you’ve ever had?”

Qrow got to his feet. “All the close calls, the issues in the hospital, the accidents around the house alone! Not to mention the Grimm!” If it weren’t for Yang asleep upstairs, he would have been yelling. “Summer nearly died bringing her into the world and I’ve nearly killed her every day since!”

Tai stared him down. “You can’t even say your own daughter’s name, can you?”

He couldn’t. Qrow had loved Summer Rose since the day they met in the Emerald Forest. She was the first friend he’d made outside of the tribe and the reason he refused to go back. Not once had she ever blamed him for his semblance. In fact, she had almost made him think it wasn’t so hard for someone to love him. But he was going to get them hurt, going to get them killed. Qrow saw that now. He was an idiot to think he could be happy. That he could be a husband. A father.

“I’m doing it for them!”

Tai punched him in the face hard enough that Qrow landed on the front lawn. “You’re doing it for yourself!” He flexed his hand and looked back at the house. “I said what I wanted to say. I won’t leave Summer to raise Ruby alone. Hell, Yang practically calls her mom already. And we won’t tell them.”

“Tai, I- ”

“Don’t you dare thank me for this. We’ll be here if you ever change your mind.” Tai walked back into the house and closed the door.

A Knight and a Scoundrel

Chapter 6.1: Mixed Signals

Jaune Arc

Everything had moved so quickly after Haven. Ozpin had told them to rush the Relic of Knowledge to Atlas, so after only a night to rest, Qrow had bought them all tickets on the Argus Limited. It would take them all the way to Argus; the same distance they had walked across Anima but shortened to just a day and a half on a high-speed train.

Neo knocked on Jaune’s pauldron before pointing to a small store on the other side of the station. *Ruby and I will be right back.*

He nodded as he sat down on a long bench. “I’ll be here!”

He was glad for the time to his own thoughts. Today was the day they’d leave Mistral. And the day Neo promised she’d stop traveling with them. He didn’t know what he was going to say to her. How could he sum up everything in just a short goodbye? Maybe he should have said something last night.

Weiss sat down next to him. “Have you seen Blake? We’re supposed to leave soon.”

Jaune pointed up to the second floor. “She’s saying goodbye to Sun, Neptune, and Ilia.”

“Oh.” Her face dropped into a frown.

“Something wrong?”

She looked up at the second floor. “I didn’t know Neptune was here, he… hadn’t said anything.”

“Well then I’m going to go bring him down here.” Jaune started to stand.

Weiss grabbed his arm and pulled him back down. “No, it’s fine. I’m fine. But thank you.”

Jaune hadn’t noticed Neo and Ruby come back until his teammate suddenly threw a bag into his lap. *Bought them for you.* She stood with a sour face and her arms crossed over a new, pink and white, fleece coat. A coat made for the harsher Atlesian weather.

“Are you coming with us?” He couldn’t get the words out fast enough.

*Are you really surprised?*

“I guess it makes sense. If you want to change the Four Kingdoms and stop Salem, then- ”

Her face soured even more. *No, you idiot. It’s not that.”

Jaune didn’t understand. “What do you mean? Because of JNPR?” He had hoped she was starting to feel more like a part of their team. Nora had insisted on using their name again, using Neo’s ‘P’.

Neo pushed him to the side to make room for her to sit. *Shut up, let it go. Just move over!*

“What is it?”

*I said let it go! I just want on the stupid train with my stupid partner, okay?* She reached into the bag on his lap, pulled out a pair of black winter gloves, and put them in his hands.

They looked like they would fit perfectly. He hadn’t thought about how cold his hands would get in the snow, covered by metal gauntlets.

Weiss looked over at him, wearing a new red scarf. “You still don’t understand women, do you?”

Jaune looked to Neo, who was staring towards the train with a sullen face, then down at the gloves she had just bought him. “No. No I do not. Wait, you understand her?”

“Of course, Jaune, I learned over a dozen different languages as a child.” She turned away and went back to her conversation with Ruby.

Jaune sighed. He felt like the only one in the room who didn’t know what was going on.

After some time, Neo rested her head on his shoulder as they waited for the train to depart. He really didn’t understand her at all.

\---

The first day went by quickly. The train had a lot of passengers, but it was so large they rarely ever saw anyone else. They mostly spent their time in their own team compartments or out in the lounge.

The next morning, Jaune was sitting at one of the lounge tables watching the snowy landscapes fly by outside. Nora sat opposite him, enjoying a coffee she snuck past Ren and watching everyone in the car.

“Do you think it’ll happen today?” She took a slow sip of her drink.

“What?” Jaune asked

“Do you think Yang and Blake are going to make up? Blake’s trying so hard, but I don’t think Yang even knows what she wants anymore. There must be so many conflicting feelings, what with them being in love and everything.”

Jaune coughed. “In love?”

Nora gave him a condescending stare as she drank her coffee. “Yes Jaune. In love. Please try to keep up with current events. Blake needed to fix the White Fang and blamed herself for Yang getting hurt, so she went to Menagerie alone. Sun followed her, thereby not respecting her wishes, and throwing himself out of the chance of being a romantic interest. Yang gave her the space she needed by not going after her. Therefore, Blake completed her goals, grew a lot, and is ready to accept her feelings for Yang.

Nora took another sip from her coffee before catching her breath. “Yang on the other hand has severe trauma from her mother leaving her from a young age. That means that Blake leaving without explaining herself really upset her. But now that Blake is back, Yang doesn’t know how to turn off that anger and move into acceptance instead. They need closure.”

Ruby chased Weiss through one door of the compartment, down the length of the car, and out the other side.

Jaune looked at Nora, who was once again making knowing eyes at him. “No.”

“Oh yes, Jaune. Oh yes. You see, Ruby missed Weiss throughout our travels through Anima. Often sighing and remarking about her teammates before bed. She had always liked Weiss at school. But she thought she just wanted Weiss to be her friend. She doesn’t even know she has those feelings yet. But look at that red scarf Ruby just bought her. And speaking of red accessories, did you notice those red earrings Weiss was wearing? Very interesting. Not to mention all those side looks. I see everything.”

Jaune laughed before he noticed her staring at him from her cup. “What?”

“Oh nothing. Nothing.” She waved him off then left for their cabin. “Those gloves just look nice.”

\---

Jaune stayed in the lounge, outlasting everyone else, until the cabin was empty and quiet. But something seemed missing.

After an hour of silence, the rear doors opened, and Neo took Nora’s seat.

“Hey, I haven’t seen you in a while. Everything okay?”

*No. Maybe. I don't think so. We need to talk.* She looked hurt.

“Okay, of course. What’s wrong?”

*I heard what you said at Haven. I’ve been running it through my mind the past two days, and I can’t forget about it. You told Cinder it didn’t matter if you died!*

Jaune couldn’t speak.

Neo stared at him for a few breaths, waiting for a response, looking for answers in his eyes. When they didn’t come, she continued. *What was your plan that night? Kill Cinder or die trying?*

Jaune clutched the sash in his lap. He still wasn’t as strong as Pyrrha had ever been. He knew he didn’t have a chance against the Fall Maiden. He had just wanted it to be over, one way or the other. To avenge Pyrrha, or maybe see her again.

*I understand how you feel.* Neo looked down at his hands. *At least, part of it. But what good would it do if you died? Maybe you would be okay with that but that doesn’t mean I have to be!*

Neo clenched her jaw, like she always did when she was upset. Her face was starting to flush, and her eyes were watery for a brief moment before her semblance hid them; made them look normal again.

*We started to feel like a family. You, Ren, Nora, Ruby. I can’t believe I’m saying this, but even Qrow. You can’t just come into my life and convince me you care about me, then go and try to kill yourself! I don't know what I'd do without you.*

She took in a sharp breath, stood up, and quickly walked out of the car and back towards their rooms.

He felt like such an idiot. First, he nearly gets Weiss killed. Now this? He’d hurt a lot of people he cared about that night. No wonder she’d been so distant.

But, he agreed, they had started to feel like a family. Like she belonged with them. And he’d hurt her. Jaune wasn’t sure how he would make it up to her, but he was going to try.

As he made his way back to their room, the train began to shake. The rest of JNPR met him in the hallway, weapons ready. Nora handed him Crocea Mors.

Oscar ran up from the next car. “Grimm are attacking the train. RWBY are already heading outside to help the huntsmen.”

His talk with Neo would have to wait. “Then we should too.”

\---

Fighting on the roof of a speeding train had always looked cooler in the movies. Jumping from car to car while evading flying Manticores was nothing like that.

They had only killed a few of the creatures, instead they had to focus on keeping them away from the passenger cars. But the automated defenses kept attracting the Grimm.

Even between the eight of them, Oscar, Qrow, and one of the train’s huntsmen, the Grimm were wearing them down. It started to look bad before Oscar noticed the coming tunnel. Everyone made it into the train in time, but just barely.

Ruby and Jaune tried to form a plan to cloak the train to hide from the Grimm, but Ozpin revealed another fact about the Relics. They attracted Grimm too.

“So, what can we do?” Nora looked between Ozpin and the rest of the group.

Ruby suddenly seemed more determined. “We get all of the passengers to the front cars. Jaune still amplifies Ren’s aura to get everyone to safety. We’ll take the Lamp, disconnect the back cars, and meet you in Argus.”

Jaune tried to argue with them, but Ruby wouldn’t listen. There were people on board that needed to be protected. She was right.

RWBY, Qrow, and Ozpin started to head back into the further cars to evacuate everyone while Jaune stayed with Ren.

Neo stood in the doorway, looking back at RWBY then the rest of JNPR. She must have wanted to help them both.

Nora pulled Magnhild from her back. “I’ll look after our boys. Go.”

Neo gave her a thankful smile, then turned to leave.

Jaune knew he wouldn’t see her again for a while, even if everything went according to their plan. He also knew she had been struggling to fight the Grimm earlier with what remained of Hush. And Jaune couldn’t leave it like he did, he called after her.

Neo turned back around. He pulled Crocea Mors from his belt and threw it to her. “Be safe.”

A Knight and a Scoundrel

Chapter 6.2: Home

Neopolitan

Neo climbed up onto the roof of the train. She took one last look back at the passenger cars.

She’d thrown a lot at him all at once; confronted him about his fight with Cinder, told him how much everyone meant to her, and how she didn’t know what she’d do without him. It had all just come pouring out. She didn’t even know what she meant. But she knew it was true.

Neo helped Oscar over the gap in the cars just before Blake cut the line. She joined them as the engine pulled their friends away towards Argus. Neo wanted to watch them go, but they had bigger problems.

A massive Sphinx and a pack of Manticore’s came running out of the tunnel and spread their wings as they reached the open air.

Neo expanded Crocea Mors and pulled the sword from its shield. She had expected it to feel heavy and unnatural. But Jaune’s sword felt surprisingly light.

She ran at the first Manticore to land on the roof of the train. It tried to strike at her with its horns, but she blocked the blow with her shield. She used the opening to spin and kick the Grimm’s head down into the roof, then stabbed her sword into its exposed neck. Crocea Mors was wider than she was used to, but it felt good. Fluid.

The Manticore dissolved into black smoke as the others pressed on towards the rear of the train. Qrow was distracting the Sphinx while the others were trying to clear out the rest of the Grimm.

Ruby killed one in two strikes. The first severed the creatures right hind and forelimbs, while the second decapitated it. 

Yang wrestled with one, grabbing it by its horns and throwing it to the ground.

Ruby and Weiss redirected a falling Grimm into the path of another, sending them both falling off the cliffside and saving Oscar.

Neo moved back towards the younger boy, who was clearly taking control of his body instead of Ozpin. She covered him with her shield as they finished off another Manticore together. Oscar struck it with his cane, making the beast rear up while Neo dove underneath it, slicing its belly from below.

The Sphinx roared and started to create a fireball in its mouth.

With few words to each other, and in perfect coordination, Yang and Blake used Gambol Shroud to hold the Sphinx in place while Weiss froze its wings solid. Ruby and Qrow shot the frozen wings apart, then used their scythes together to cut the Grimm in two. But the creature’s final breath unleashed a fireball into the train’s path, damaging the rail.

Weiss quickly used her gravity dust glyphs to secure everyone onto the roof of the train as it jumped off of the tracks and slid down the snowy embankment into the valley below.

When the powder cleared, everyone was strewn about a clearing. The armored train had mostly held together in one piece.

Qrow checked to make sure everyone was alright. They were fine, but they had one more group member than they had planned for. A short woman with mechanical eyes and grey hair stepped out of the train.

\---

For the second time that day the group had learned Ozpin was keeping secrets, even from Qrow. Oscar managed to take control for a moment to tell Ruby the password to the Lamp. She spoke the name aloud before Ozpin could stop her.

A beautiful woman, much like the one depicted in the statue at Haven, erupted from the Lamp in a cloud of blue smoke. She had similarly blue skin and wore golden chains.

Ruby asked what Ozpin had been hiding from them, and for the second time in the past few weeks, Neo’s entire world was rearranged.

\---

“You can’t”

Jinn’s words to Ozpin stuck in Neo’s mind as they all came back to their present.

Ozpin was kneeling in the snow, either out of shock or shame.

Everyone wanted to say something to the man, but Ruby’s question cut to the core of what they wanted to know. “Professor, what is your plan to defeat Salem?”

“I… don’t have one.” He hung his head.

Neo looked down at the gold trim of Jaune’s shield. Everything they had sacrificed was for nothing. All of it. Going to Atlas, securing the Lamp, her attempted revenge on Cinder, Pyrrha’s death and her resolve to become a Maiden in the first place. It had all been for nothing. A wild guess from a man that had been losing an impossible fight since the dawn of time. They couldn’t win. They were struggling against the inevitable.

Before Neo could do it first, Qrow punched Ozpin as hard as he could, sending Oscar’s body flying into a tree. 

Qrow stood over Ozpin, his face gloomy and dying. “No one wanted me. I was cursed. I gave my life to you because you gave me a place in this world. I thought I was finally doing some good.”

“But you are- ” Ozpin tried to convince his last ally but was cut off.

“Meeting you was the worst luck of my life.”

“Maybe you’re right.” Oscar’s eyes flashed as Ozpin withdrew. 

Ruby rushed to Oscar “What happened?”

“He’s gone.”

“That bastard!” Yang screamed and pointed to the boy. “Tell him we’re not done yet!”

“No, this is different, he’s gone. It’s like he’s locked himself deep inside my head. Our head? I hate this. I want it to stop!”

Everyone began talking at once into a mess of what-ifs and what-nows.

“Enough! We need to get a move on. It’ll be dark before we know it and every one of you is spewing negativity!” the older woman from the train helped Oscar up. “There’s a trail over there. Trails usually lead somewhere.’

Yang cocked her hip. “Lady, I don’t know who you think you are, but- ”

“No buts! I understand that you’re upset. Honestly, I’m still coming to terms with the fact that this is humanity’s second time around. But if we don’t move, we die. And I’ll be damned if I’ve lived this long just to die out here in the cold.” Neo immediately loved this woman.

Everyone picked up what they could of their belongings or useful salvage from the train and headed down the snowy trail. Yang pushed her bike as the others tried to clear a path. No one spoke again for a long time. They were all thinking the same things.

\---

The trail eventually led them to a homestead. The sign along the main road read: “Brunswick Farms”. The name immediately reminded Neo of Roman. But the sign itself reminded her of something else.

Neo reached out and touched the sign and the fence as she walked along the road. She brushed her hand against the sides of sheds and barns as they approached the main house. Everything felt familiar. Like she could guess exactly where and what the next building would be.

At the end of the path sat a lone well in front of the main house. Neo brushed her fingertips against the powder covered stones but immediately drew them away. Something about the well seemed foreboding. Wrong.

The others had been talking by the front door, and someone had kicked it in. They were standing in the doorway, taking in the rooms.

It felt like a dream. Like she’d seen the house before. Neo immediately turned to walk up the stairs. The steps seemed shorter than they should be.

At the second floor, she found a hand-sewn cloth doll laying on the ground. She picked it up and turned it over in her hands. Memories of a birthday party flashed through her mind: a loaf of sweet cornbread sat on the table as a woman handed her the same doll. It must have taken weeks to make.

Neo clutched the doll the way she remembered and walked up the next flight of stairs. At the top floor, there were three doors. Bedrooms. Neo knew not to open the middle one, or she’d get yelled at. She opened the one on the right.

Inside was a little girl’s room. The bedding and the walls were the same pastel pink color. There was a small tea set in the corner. A chest overflowed with hand-me-down clothes of various sizes. The room felt safe. Neo sat down on the unmade bed.

She dug her nails into the blankets as Weiss let out a sudden shriek downstairs.

She rushed to the second floor to find what had happened. Weiss and Yang were sitting in a master bedroom. In the bed, lay the mummified remains of a man and a woman. Neo wanted to recognize them.

Qrow pulled them out of the room and brought them back downstairs. He told them he would look around the farm.

Ruby was standing near the entrance, looking at the wall of photographs by the time they came back down. The girl was staring intently at one in particular. “Hey Neo, come here.”

Neo followed Ruby to a large family portrait. A man and his wife stood with their son and daughter. And between them all stood a little girl, no older than six years old, clutching her cloth doll.

The memories started to flood back. Seeing her family’s faces connected a final dot in her mind. Summers helping her mother can vegetables, winters playing in the snow, the Putnam’s son teaching her how to play cards, her brother telling scary stories, and her sister helping her with her chores.

Neo braced herself against the wall. Ruby tried to comfort her, apologizing profusely.

The others came in to see what was happening. Weiss looked at the photo and made the connection. “If this girl didn’t have green eyes… Neo, is this you?”

Yang grabbed the photo and compared it against Neo’s face. Her eyes narrowed. “Were you going to tell us? You must know what happened here!” When Neo didn’t respond or look up, Yang got even more upset.

The woman from the train took the picture and examined it. “This girl is so young. And to experience something like the loss of her home… I doubt she remembers much at all. I’m not surprised.” She covered Neo in a blanket and led her back to one of the couches in the library.

Neo wasn’t sure what had happened. She remembered Grimm attacking the farm and the Huntsman telling her to run as fast as she could. And her parents not moving from their bed.

She curled up into herself, pulling her knees to her chest. The monsters from her nightmares lived in this farm. She gripped Crocea Mors’ sheath in both hands, wishing Jaune was there.

Eventually Qrow returned, telling them that all of the houses had the same evidence. Everyone seemed to have died in their beds. Except the Huntsman’s quarters, and a child’s bedroom upstairs.

“Then we’re not staying here, are we?” Weiss looked up at Qrow from the fire.

He sighed and leaned against a doorframe. “We don’t have a choice. Storm outside is only getting worse. We’d freeze to death before we made it anywhere.”

The woman started perusing the bookshelf nearby. “Well, we might as well get comfortable.” She selected a journal marked ‘I’ and sat back down next to Neo.

Yang scoffed. “Yeah, fat chance.”

“Okay, then let’s do something about it.” Ruby tried to keep everyone motivated. “If this place wasn’t abandoned, it might still have supplies we can use.”

Qrow stood back up and headed to the door. “I’ll do another sweep of the grounds. No one else goes anywhere alone.”

Blake quickly volunteered Yang to go with her to search the buildings for a vehicle. Yang pessimistically agreed.

Ruby and Weiss went searching for food.

Oscar stayed with them in the library. The older woman looked up at him, then gestured to the fireplace. “I’ll tell you what, you keep that fire fed, and I’ll find us a story to read before bed.”

Oscar did as he was told, then sat back down.

She turned to Neo next. “These look like someone’s journals. Would you like to read them with me?”

Neo looked at the woman. She reminded her so much of Fleur: crafty, smart, and kind. She nodded. Together, they started reading the handwritten journal. Neo didn’t think she would have done it on her own.

“It’s a diary?” Oscar asked once everyone had returned for the evening. Ruby and Weiss had brought canned foods from the cellar, and Blake and Yang had found a trailer they could latch to bumblebee in the morning.

The woman explained to everyone, “the head of this household’s, Bartleby.” She looked down to Neo, then back up to everyone else. “Neo’s father. Apparently, he and several other families founded this little settlement to try and live on their own. It sounds like it worked, at least for a spell.”

“Grimm?” Oscar asked.

She nodded. “Just one of many hardships. It’s a shame, he seemed like the ambitious fellow. Always coming up with new schemes to beat the odds.”

The pieces of her life were starting to come back. Neo could remember bringing water out to the workers in the field on summer days and listening to the huntsmen tell her stories about the lives they had led. Sometimes they would make enough money to go to town, and they’d buy fabric or parts for the tractor. They never had much.

Ruby came back into the library. “Hey guys, Qrow said we should get some sleep. We’re going to head out early tomorrow.”

Blake stretched out onto the floor. “Thank goodness!”

The woman stood up from her spot on the couch and sat down in the chair closest to the door. “The last thing you’ll catch me doing is letting some kid tell me what to do.” She turned on the lamp next to her and opened the book again.

Neo joined her, sitting on the floor and leaning against the arm of the chair. Crocea Mors sat neatly in her lap, next to the doll she had found.

The woman started quietly reading aloud to her as Oscar and RWBY found places to sleep by the fire.

\---

No matter how hard she shook her parents they wouldn’t get out of their bed. A chorus of inhuman screams shook through the house. She collapsed onto their comforter, suddenly so exhausted. A gunshot downstairs scared her back awake. She heard metal scraping, then a man in a duster and wide hat ran into the room. He set his long shotgun in the doorway before scooping her up. He held her with one hand as he turned and picked up his weapon. In his haste, she accidentally dropped her doll. She wanted to tell him to turn back but he’d already taken them outside and closed the door behind them. He caught his breath for a moment, looking between the fence line and the truck. More shrieks echoed up out of the well as clawed hands stretched out from its depths. The man tried to run but collapsed near the edge of the property. He set her down and shook her shoulders. He yelled at her to run to town as fast as she could. The Grimm pulled him down into the well as he yelled at her again. She started crying. The creatures turned to her with glowing red eyes and started shuffling closer. She turned and ran out of the homestead. Her aura kept her warm for a little while, but the snow kept getting deeper and deeper. She collapsed just outside the giant wall of Argus, shivering and scared.

Shattering glass scared Neo awake. She couldn’t catch her breath as she frantically looked between the windows for the source of the noise, sure that Grimm were breaking into the house. Instead, she saw Ruby standing next to her uncle, and a broken wine bottle on the floor.

Neo used her semblance to make herself still look like she was sleeping before anyone noticed. She tried to calm herself down. She gripped Crocea Mors as tightly as she could until the metal stung her hands. When she could breathe again, she wiped the tears from her face. She must have been crying in her sleep.

It had been an awful dream.

Ruby woke everyone up and tried to get them outside. Everyone was still tired, despite oversleeping. And everyone was in a bad mood, like the stress from yesterday had just grown as they slept.

Weiss used her weapon to weld the hitch onto bumblebee and set up the trailer.

It was almost all set to go, until Qrow tested it. A tire deflated just as he set his foot on the side wall. He scoffed, slumped into a snowdrift, and drank from his flask.

Yang rested against the well. The act made Neo nervous. She stood a bit closer to bumblebee instead. “I’m starting to think the universe just doesn’t want us getting to Atlas.”

Ruby turned from her uncle to her sister. “It’s just a flat tire. I’m sure there’s a spare.”

Yang started to get upset. “It’s not just that. Storms, crashes, monsters…” She half closed her eyes. “I’m so tired.”

Blake stood next to her partner. “Me too. It feels like were always having to fight to get by.”

Ruby tried to instill some more energy into the group. “Yeah, but that’s what we signed up for.”

Oscar spoke up from his seat on the porch steps. “We signed up to try to save the world, not just delay the inevitable.”

Weiss crossed her arms. “last night, I… I couldn’t stop thinking. Why are we going to Atlas?”

Everyone got quiet, not having any real answers. If Salem couldn’t be stopped, and Ozpin couldn’t be trusted, why were they still going? And Neo was tired too. It felt like she hadn’t slept a moment since she was on the train. But her anxiety and fear seemed to be keeping her awake more than the others.

Ruby finally replied. “Weiss, we have to.”

“Why?” Yang stood up. “Ozpin hid the Relics behind giant doors under enormous schools. But, how long would it take Salem to find the Lamp in the middle of nowhere?”

“But, the Grimm might- ”

Yang cut Ruby off. “They might find it eventually, sure. But bury it or just throw it down the well? It’d take years. It might not even happen in our lifetime. But we could be done with it now.”

Ruby pulled the Lamp from her hip and held it over the well. “I am really tired…” She was starting to pull the Lamp back from the edge when she shrieked and accidentally let it go. The scream made Neo’s heart race. “No, no, no. I didn’t mean to!”

Weiss put her hand on Ruby’s shoulder. “Ruby, it’s okay.”

“No, no! There’s something down there! I saw it! It was looking at me.”

Neo didn’t want to believe her. She didn’t want there to be anything in that well. She wanted them to remain dreams, because if they weren’t, then she’d been haunted by memories. She started to inch closer to the well.

Yang slouched and moved towards her bike. “It’s okay. You just said you’re tired. It was probably nothing. Now let’s go.”

Neo had only seen Ruby angry a handful of times. But this was serious. “What’s wrong with you? We can’t just leave. We have to go down there. We have to get the lamp back! What was I thinking?”

Qrow took a break from his flask, “All we have to do is fix this trailer. Hey farm boy, check the shed for a spare.”

Neo put her hands on the well’s brim and peered over the edge. There was nothing but darkness, but she could hear steady running water below.

Ruby was shouting now. “I’m not leaving without the Lamp!”

Neo thought she saw something, like a shadow moving against the dark, and peered closer. Weiss grabbed her by the coat and pulled her back. “Be careful, you might fall down there too.”

Yang scoffed. “One less thing to worry about.”

Something definitely moved this time. Weiss wouldn’t let go, so Neo let her arms slip out of her coat and hopped over the edge. It was a quick fall into ankle deep water.

Neo could hear them talking above her. But she wasn’t going to come back up. They needed the Lamp back. And she needed to put a stop to her nightmares. Maybe if the well was empty, they’d finally end.

She drew Crocea Mors, resting the longsword’s weight against her shoulder as she walked.

After a few twists and turns she heard four more splashes back the way she had come. RWBY had joined her.

The water led her to a fork in the tunnels. She turned the corner, following the faint blue glow of the Lamp. It was sitting in the water at her feet. But just within the Lamp’s light stood a dozen misshapen human forms, with protruding bones, long thin claws, and glowing red eyes.

Neo fell backward into the flowing water. She was face to face with her nightmare, and she couldn’t move. She gripped Crocea Mors but she couldn’t will herself to stand, let alone swing the sword. She was petrified and silently panicking. Her heart beat in her throat.

Ruby rounded the corner behind her. “Neo! And you found the Lamp!” The girl rushed to her side, elated to find them, until she noticed why Neo was so terrified.

Ruby lunged for the Lamp just before the Grimm could reach it first.

The creatures let out a screech in unison. A wave of exhaustion and depression washed over Neo. Her heart started to slow.

The older woman came running down the tunnel after them. “Run! Now!”

Neo got to her feet as Ruby grabbed the Lamp. But she noticed something else floating in the water. Something that had been knocked off when she fell. Roman’s hat started drifting in the current. Towards the approaching Grimm.

Neo lunged for the cap as it disappeared under one of the creature’s feet. She couldn’t pull it free. But she wouldn’t let it go. She couldn’t lose Roman again. Not like this.

Ruby grabbed Neo by the waist and pulled as hard as she could. Neo felt something give as the girl pulled her out. They ran down the tunnel, joining Weiss, Blake, and Yang as they headed towards an exit.

But the tunnels were a labyrinth of twists and turns, and every corridor seemed to be filled with more monsters.

As they evaded the newest group of Grimm, they passed a skeleton leaning against the wall. A long duster clung to the bones. And a wide brim hat sat on its head. Neo paused in front of the body. It was him. The huntsman that had saved her.

Someone was weakly trying to pull her away, but she wouldn’t move. He died alone. And no one would have remembered what he did.

Someone pulled her again. This time stronger, nearly pulling her off of her feet. Neo turned her head to see the older woman from before yanking her away from the approaching Grimm.

Seeing her struggle to help her brought back scenes from Neo’s nightmares. Of the huntsman trying to save her.

Neo finally came back to her senses and followed the woman. With the Grimm just on their heels, they caught up to RWBY just below the main cellar doors.

Another screech filled the tunnels, this time even louder. They all fell to the ground, barely able to keep moving, crawling towards the exit.

Yang tried to get to the doors and bust them open, but yet another screech made her fall to her knees.

The creatures shuffled closer, reaching out their claws towards the nearest victim.

Blake laid on the ground furthest from the door. She couldn’t move. Didn’t want to. The Grimm grabbed her as Ruby cried out for her.

A quick flash of white filled room until it was all they could see. When the light faded, the nearest Grimm were gone. But more soon took their place.

But with fewer Grimm, Neo could feel her energy starting to come back.

Ruby grabbed Blake and helped her back up.

The woman looked around, confused. “What just happened?”

Another shriek. The Grimm started to enter the cellar basement again as everyone was buffeted by the monsters’ cries.

Ruby fell to the ground, but the woman cradled her head. “Ruby? What color are your eyes?”

“They’re silver.”

“You have a family? Friends?”

Ruby watched the approaching Grimm. “What?”

“Don’t think about those. Think about the people who love you. Focus on the thought of them. The way they make you feel. Focus.” She lifted Ruby up to a sitting position. “Life is beautiful. It is precious. And it must be protected.”

Ruby opened her eyes again. A brilliant light burned the room. It lasted even longer than the previous light. When it faded, the Grimm were gone, and everyone’s strength was back.

Yang punched through the locked door and burst into the cellar. She grabbed Blake’s hand and ran towards the front door.

Weiss pulled Neo along through the opening.

Ruby tried to rouse her uncle, who had been slouching over the bar.

Qrow tried to fight her back. “Hey, get off me! What are you doing here?”

The woman grabbed his arm. “We’re leaving you idiot, come on!”

Weiss looked back at the cellar door. Then to the liquor bottles lining the room. “Not yet.” She threw a couple of bottles at the cellar entrance, then used a fire glyph to ignite the alcohol. “Now we can leave.”

Weiss and Ruby helped Neo to the trailer as the house lit on fire. They set her down next to the woman on the end and climbed aboard. Once everyone was on, Yang started the bike and pulled them all away.

Neo watched as her childhood house went up in flames.

\---

“The Apathy. They aren’t strong or ferocious. They drain your will to go on.” The woman pulled the final journal from her bag and opened it to the final pages. “Bartleby’s estate was hemorrhaging money in the end. He wanted to cut costs on huntsmen protection. In order to do that he needed everyone calm. Always.” The woman handed the book to Neo, then explained her father’s plan to use a pair of Grimm to keep the homestead calm. But their pack followed and led to the farm’s demise. “No one was angry, sad, or scared. No one was anything. And then, no one was left.” She looked to Neo. “Well…”

Neo threw the journal into the snow as they drove away. The pillar of smoke grew in the distance.

Ruby asked how the woman knew so much about the Grimm and her abilities. She explained herself. That her name was Maria Calavera. That she had been the famous Grimm Reaper until someone came after her for her silver eyes. After that, she went into hiding.

Neo stopped listening to what was happening. The last day had put her through so much. She stared down at the remains of Roman’s hat in her hands. It had ripped when Ruby pulled her away from the Grimm. Now it was mostly just a red ribbon holding together a few pieces of torn fabric. Broken, but barely holding together. It was how she felt too. She gingerly placed it back in her bag, along with her cloth doll.

Ruby’s voice cut through the noise. “It’s Jaune!” She held up her scroll. The name ‘Vomit Boy’ floated above his picture.

Weiss looked over at her partner. “How?”

Yang stopped the bike.

“Ruby? Thank you! I’ve been checking my scroll since we made it to the city!”

“The city?” Ruby started to move her phone around, looking for the best signal. She stopped pointing directly ahead.

Yang drove them up the final hill to see what was beyond. The massive walled city of Argus stretched between two hillsides before them.

Everyone was looking at the city. But Neo had seen the view before. Lived in its streets. It was better than the wilderness, but, only for a few reasons. She stared at Ruby’s phone wondering what she would say to her partner when she saw him again.

\---

Jaune had told them where to meet. Yang parked her bike in a storage locker just outside of town.

“CUTE BOY OZ!” Nora suddenly appeared and tackled Oscar in a hug.

Jaune and Ren followed close behind.

Ren found Neo first, telling her he was glad she was safe. Nora joined him, explaining that they had been so worried.

Then Jaune. He looked tired. And a mess of emotions crossed his face. Neo had never been so aware of how much taller he was than her. She pulled Crocea Mors from her back and handed it to him. *I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have- *

Jaune knocked it aside and pulled her to his chest. He held her like he never wanted to let her go again. “I’ve missed you.”

Neo finally felt home again.


	7. Chapter 7

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> <<< A note from the author: I'm sorry It's taken me so long to update. I promise most of my free time does go to this fic. I hope making this one about twice as long makes up for that!.>>>

A Knight and a Scoundrel

Chapter 7._: First Day of School

Saphron Cotta-Arc

\--- 2 years ago ---

“You’re sure you have everything?” Saphron checked over the sparce luggage her brother had brought to the airport. A duffle bag and a suitcase held everything he owned. She knew better than anyone what finally getting out of the family home meant. Starting new, away from their parents. But still, it was so little.

“Stop fussing!” Jaune swatted her hands away as she tried to straighten his poorly fitted armor. He’d only bought it on the way there from a secondhand shop. He’d worked two jobs after school just to save up for it.

Standing in the parking lot, Saphron couldn’t tell if she was worried for or proud of her brother. “Terra had to stay home, so I get to fuss for two now. I’m going to be a mom soon, so you better get used to it!” She pulled him into a tight hug, threatening to not let him go.

Jaune tried to wiggle free. “Saph, you’re choking me…”

Saphron hugged him a little longer. Their parents had barely said goodbye when she picked him up. Come to think of it, they barely even noticed that she’d come all the way from Argus.

She eventually let him go. “You’re just missing two things. One,” she pulled a folded envelope out of her back pocket and handed it to him. The transcripts had cost quite the sum of Lien, but the man in the bowler hat had assured her that they would hold up under any scrutiny. If this was the way her brother wanted to get out on his own and start his own life by helping others, how could she of all people judge him?

Jaune quickly put his forgeries away in his bag. “Thank you. I don’t know what I’d do without you.”

Saphron put her hand on his shoulder. “Just tell me you know what you’re doing.”

He gave her a less than reassuring grin.

She shook her head and pulled out the second gift from the trunk of her rental car. She placed the metallic sheath in Jaune’s hands.

His eyes lit up. “You got dad to give me Crocea Mors? He said he’d never take it off the wall!”

“He doesn’t know it’s gone. Not yet.”

The light in his eyes died a little.

She had heard what their parents had told him before they left. That if he failed out of Beacon not to worry and just come back home. Saphron hugged her brother again. “I know you can do this, Jaune. Never stop learning and working hard. And I’ll be here for graduation sooner than you think, okay?”

Jaune put the sword on his belt and smiled. He was trying to be strong.

She knew he would be.

A Knight and a Scoundrel

Chapter 7.1: Introducing the Family

Jaune Arc

It had only been a day since the two groups had split up, but something awful must have happened. They all looked so defeated and exhausted. Especially Neo.

She wasn’t wearing Roman’s hat anymore. That was the first sign something was wrong. Yang being civil towards her was the second. Something definitely had happened. 

Jaune offered to take Neo’s bag as he led everyone inside the gated wall of Argus. The city was quieter than Mistral, but still busy compared to the rest of the cities and villages they had passed through across Anima.

The group nearly filled half the trolly between the eleven of them. Oscar was usually so talkative, but now was mostly silent. And Qrow was even more brooding than usual. Only the newest addition, Maria, seemed to have any energy. Everyone else looked so tired after what they had been through.

Jaune accepted the bare minimum they described on the way and figured they would explain more in time.

Neo sat next to him in the back of the trolly. While everyone else was at least glancing at the city as they passed by, she just rested her head against his chest with her eyes closed. Jaune absentmindedly stroked her arm as the trolly slowly made its way deeper into the city.

He wasn’t sure where they stood after what she said on the train. He still owed her an explanation. But she had been through a lot since Haven. Fighting Cinder, the train crash, and finding her childhood home all seemed like too much to go through within a few days of each other. Jaune was worried about her.

When they arrived at their stop, Nora got up and helped usher everyone off.

Blake took in the seaside neighborhood. “We should probably start looking for a ship.”

Yang got off, followed her partner’s gaze towards the water, and nodded.

“So, where have you guys been staying?” Oscar looked to Nora.

Jaune rubbed the back of his neck. He wasn’t sure where to start.

“There you are!” Saphron’s voice rang through the street as the trolly pulled away. She was standing in front of her house waving towards them, Adrian in her arms.

Yang was the first to speak. “Is that…?”

Just like that, he lost his ability to get ahead of the chaos. He knew how RWBY could get. “Hey, Saph.”

Ruby looked from Jaune to Saphron a couple times before the exhaustion on her face tranformed into excitement. “Is that who I think it is?”

Jaune took a large breath. It was like introducing Nora all over again, but five times over. “Everyone, this is my sister, Saphron. We’ve been staying with her. Saph, this is… everyone.” He walked across the street to his sister and the group followed.

“This is Qrow, he’s our instructor, and Ruby and Yang’s uncle.” He started to go through the group of people he, Nora, and Ren had tried to explain to his sister the day before. “This is the rest of Ruby’s team. You know Weiss Schnee. This is Blake Belladonna.” He wasn’t entirely sure who Maria was yet, but he introduced her as Ruby’s mentor. Oscar was difficult to explain too, they hadn’t wanted to get into the entire Ozpin reincarnation cycle. They had been worried it would be too complicated, and that she might be safer not knowing. “And this is...”

Saphron beamed at Neo. "you must be Neopolitan! Jaune hasn’t stopped talking about you. Thank you for looking after my brother!" She pulled her into a tight hug. As she did, Saphron mouthed something to Nora. 'Oh, my Gods, she is so pretty!'

"Okay then, Saph, we should probably head back inside now? I’m sure Ruby and her team are really tired." Jaune tried to get them all moving again.

“Of course! You’re all welcome to stay with us as long as you need! Make yourselves at home.”

\---

A few sandwiches didn’t fix everyone’s mood completely, but they certainly didn’t hurt.

Saphron looked at Ruby. “So, what’s your plan for tomorrow?”

Ruby finished the food she had stuffed into her mouth before replying. “Well, we’re trying to make our way to Atlas. We’ll probably start with the military base.”

Nora’s happy expression dropped mid bite.

Jaune felt the same way. “So, we kinda already tried that. It didn’t go super great.”

“Come on, it couldn’t be that bad!” Yang tried to lighten the mood again.

Jaune thought back to their discussion with Special Operative Cordovin. She had refused to listen to them once they got to ‘secure the magical Relic in Atlas’. Nora did not leave on good terms.

He rubbed his neck again. “It really could.”

Despite their poor reception, Ruby still wanted to try the base again in the morning. They spent the rest of the day inside. RWBY and Neo still seemed so beaten after facing the Apathy Grimm.

Saphron and Terra showed them to the various places they had gotten ready for their sudden guests. A guest room, futon, day bed, and some couches eventually filled up the house.

Jaune tried talking to his partner after everyone had settled in for the night. “Hey, I can’t imagine what you’ve been through in the past few days, but... If there’s anything I can do for you, I’m here.” He sat down on the couch next to her.

Neo rested her head on his shoulder and nodded. *It’s been a lot.*

Jaune took one of the blankets Saphron had left for them and wrapped it around their shoulders.

She scooted closer to him. *We found a photo of my family. It brought back a lot of memories I didn’t know I had; nightmares too.*

He had been afraid being alone would bring her nightmares back. He hadn’t been able to sleep at all worrying about her.

*Everyone else had been indifferent and tired. But I was so /afraid/. The monsters from my dreams were real Grimm. I ripped Roman’s hat. And found the body of the huntsman that saved me. But Ruby killed all of the Grimm, and Weiss burned down the house. So, it’s over now.*

Jaune tried to take in everything she was telling him. No wonder she had barely signed a word since they met back up. He was glad she had some kind of closure to it all but still. He didn’t know how to help her, but he wished he could.

*Do you remember a few nights ago when we were talking about the huntsmen academies?*

It felt like months ago, but he remembered. “You said that they just kept the four kingdoms in power.”

Neo nodded. *My family just wanted to live outside of the kingdoms, but they couldn’t afford to pay for huntsmen to protect them with the little money the farm could make. Only one huntsman stayed to protect us. He’s the reason I’m still here.* She brought her legs up onto the couch and laid against Jaune. *I guess, maybe that kind of huntsman isn’t so bad.*

Jaune put his arm around her. He wasn’t sure if she was building up to something, but she suddenly changed the subject anyway.

*I need to tell you something. Nora and Ren, too. About Ozpin. And Salem. Ruby used the Lamp and we learned so much.* Her breathing started to get faster and her expression turned more and more pained, like she really didn’t want to tell him.

He couldn’t take that pain in her face a moment longer. Her pastel pink and warm brown eyes didn’t deserve to hold that much misery in them. She’d been through enough for one day. “If the others need to know too, then, we can talk about it later with everyone. We don’t have to do this right now, okay?”

She shook her head. *It’s important!*

Jaune pulled her into another hug instead. “No more important things. Okay? Just for tonight.”

Neo gave a hesitant nod before he let her go. She tugged on his hoodie.

Jaune smiled and set out the rest of the bedding his sister had brought them. He laid down on the thin sofa and wondered how they would try to make it work without them each taking a separate couch.

Neo just crawled on top of him, resting her head on his chest.

She didn’t weigh much, Jaune didn’t mind. He smiled and pulled the blanket up to cover her. Maybe tonight, he’d be able to sleep well again.

*Last time.*

“Last time.” Jaune lied. He wouldn’t let a single Grimm get to her again: dream or real.

A Knight and a Scoundrel

Chapter 7.2: Truth

Neopolitan

Neo resented the way Argus welcomed her back with open arms. Living on the street tended to do that to someone. And the Atlesian military policing the city had made for a lot of corporal punishment for a little girl just starting to figure out how to steal for food. The Schnee Dust Company wasn’t afraid to leave scars on its troublemakers either. Branding irons were a regional favorite.

Neo instinctively looked down every alley they passed on the way back to Saphron and Terra’s house. She hadn’t expected Cordovin to hear them out. Atlas never helped anyone but their own. But now they needed a new plan.

She held onto Jaune’s arm as they walked up the street.

Qrow left them as soon as they made it back to the house. He mumbled about a nearby bar and promised to be back later that evening. The effects of the Apathy were finally wearing off of everyone except for him. He seemed to be getting worse.

When they got back from the military base RWBY sat Jaune, Nora, and Ren down in the living room. Ruby did her best to explain what Jinn had told them just a few days earlier.

Ren and Nora didn’t move. Neo thought their faces looked just as angry as hers had when she first learned the truth. But Jaune moved straight into action.

He got up and slammed his fist into the wall, cracking the plaster in the process. “Everything we did was for nothing!” he started to pace about the room, his face twisted into an unnatural frown.

Blake tried to reassure him. “That’s not true…”

“Really? Because it sure does sound like it.” Nora lifted her head out of her hands to reply.

Ren looked back to Ruby. “If Salem can’t be killed, then, how are we supposed to win this?”

No one answered. Everyone looked around the room to someone else.

“Wow! Great plan, everyone.” Jaune lashed out, then turned away.

Oscar stepped forward. “Look. None of this is great, we know. But we’re not the bad guys here.”

“Are we sure about that?”

“What?” Oscar wasn’t expecting that kind of reply from Jaune.

“He’s in your head, isn’t he?” Jaune started walking towards Oscar. “Did you already know about this?”

“He didn’t know any of it!” Weiss tried to step between them but Jaune caught Oscar before she could stop him.

Jaune shoved Oscar against the far wall. ‘How much longer can we even trust him? How do we know it’s really him? What if we’ve been talking to that liar this whole time?”

RWBY were all shocked by Jaune’s outburst. Neo stood quietly next to Nora, both more worried for their teammate. Ren closed his eyes, not disagreeing.

“Jaune!” Ruby’s normally soft tone was harsh and angry.

It was enough to make Jaune stop and look at her. When he turned back to Oscar, he saw the young boy had put up his hands. For an instant Jaune was horrified of what he’d done. Without another word, he turned and walked up the stairs.

Yang turned to Nora. “Is he going to be okay?”

“I don’t know!” Nora wiped her face, then grabbed Neo’s hand and led her up the stairs after Jaune.

They could hear Ren talking to the others before he joined them. “I think it would be best if we had some time to ourselves.”

They found Jaune sitting on the floor of his sister’s bedroom. “It was for nothing.” He stared at the gold plating on his hands, then squeezed them into fists.

Jaune didn’t have to say Pyrrha’s name for Neo to know what he was talking about. She had thought the same thing standing out in the snow after the train crash. Ozpin hadn’t just convinced his partner to fight and die for a cause she didn’t fully understand, it had been for a cause he knew he couldn’t win.

Nora sat next to Jaune and held his hand. Ren sat on his other side, with a hand on his leader’s shoulder.

Neo felt like an outsider. Like she didn’t belong in this talk. But Nora must have brought her for a reason. She sat across from them, not too close in case they wanted space. But close enough that they knew she was there for them.

No one spoke. No one moved. No one knew what to say or where to even start. It was quiet for a long time. They could hear the back door slide open. The front door opened and closed twice. Then the house was silent.

Eventually, Ren broke their quiet. “What can we do now?”

Jaune sighed. “I don’t know. We can’t leave the Lamp here in Argus. So for now, we’re still going to Atlas.”

Nora squeezed his hand. “Jinn said Ozpin couldn’t kill Salem, right?” She looked to Neo.

She nodded.

“That doesn’t mean /we/ can’t. Or that we can’t stop her some other way, right?” Nora was trying to be helpful. Neo hoped she was right.

A moment of hope eased the pain on Jaune’s face. “Maybe…”

“So long as the world turns, you shall walk its face.” Ren mumbled to himself. “We can’t stop the world from turning.”

*She wants to collect the relics and divide humanity so that the Gods judge us poorly, like they did to her. And maybe they’ll take away her immortality?*

Jaune rubbed the back of his neck. He was nervous. “Then we have to stick together. Prove her wrong.”

The front door opened and closed again. The other’s must have come back from whatever they had been doing.

Jaune took it as a sign to get up and go meet them. He reached out a hand and helped Neo stand back up.

Neo had only ever seen Jaune that angry once before, and it was at Haven. She had been worried he was mad at her for not telling him about Ozpin and Jinn sooner, but he wasn’t. For someone so normally kindhearted, there was a lot of pain still inside of him that came out from time to time. They still hadn’t talked about what he said to Cinder, but that could wait.

Jaune hung his head. “I should probably go apologize to Oscar.”

*I would have punched Ozpin if Qrow hadn’t. But Oscar didn’t do anything wrong. He gave Ruby the password.*

He sighed and nodded, probably trying to think of what he’d say.

They followed him down out of the bedroom and into the downstairs living room again.

Jaune walked up to meet the others crowded by the backdoor. “What’s going on?”

Yang looked to her partner. Blake answered, “It’s Oscar. He’s missing.”

\---

Ren and Nora led Neo into a small café. Jaune was sitting on a bench outside. Oscar’s disappearance had really upset him. Neo wished there was something she could do. But Ren seemed sure that he just needed some space.

The café was warm and cozy. It smelled like chocolate, coffee, and cinnamon. It was the kind of place that would have kicked her out immediately as a child, maybe even called the police for good measure. But now she looked pretty and had nice clothes. So, they welcomed her with open arms.

The line to the counter was littered with treats: fresh baked muffins, small candies, cold drinks. All the things she had learned to hide in her coat by the time she was seven. She dug her hands into her pockets, physically stopping herself from habitually pilfering the store.

When it was her turn to order, Neo remembered just how much she hated going out to eat. She picked up a small menu by the cash register, pointed out the tea she wanted, then put up two fingers. After a few quizzical looks, the boy behind the counter accepted her order.

Jaune had said he didn’t want anything. But that didn’t stop her from ordering something for him anyway.

They sat in a booth to wait for their drinks. Ren and Nora were talking to each other about something, but she wasn’t really listening. There was so much more spiraling through her mind she hadn’t had a moment to work through.

How did everything just keep getting messier? How had hunting down Cinder turned into saving the world from an immortal witch? How had she started to care so much for the students she used to regularly fight against? And how had it led her back here, of all places?

The farm hadn’t felt like returning home. It was like someone else had lived in that room, and she was left with their nightmares. Argus wasn’t much of a homecoming either. Its streets were still littered with soldiers and the unnoticed poor. All it brought back were memories of punishment or early success. Roman had kept them moving from safehouse to safehouse as he worked his way up the Vale underworld. And it wasn’t like Saphron and Terra’s house felt like a home either. No matter how adorable Adrian was. But there was something about the Beacon students, something about RNNJR.

Before the Grimm attack on the train, she’d told Jaune as much. And that she didn’t know what she would do without him. It just came out at the time. But after everything that happened on the Brunswick farm, she’d realized just how right she had been. Crocea Mors was a poor replacement for her partner. Being away from him this long, knowing he was in pain just outside, was getting unbearable enough.

But /why/?

She knew the answer. She’d first considered it under the rubble in the Suisen quarry. Pushed it down as hard as she could their first morning in Mistral. Felt it in her throat at Lil’ miss Malachite’s. Tore into it every time he smiled at Weiss. And stumbled away from it on the train.

Neo clenched her jaw. It was the last thing she planned for. She had only agreed to go with them to Mistral. But after being around Jaune, it was like she was a person to someone again. Someone cared about what she had to share. Even so, she couldn’t let someone else in and risk them being taken away from her. Like her family. Like Roman. They always get taken away. She knew she could endure being alone; had gotten used to that. But if she let herself /love/ him…

“Neo?” Nora handed her the teas she had ordered. “Are you okay?”

She used her semblance to hide whatever was on her face and accepted the drinks from Nora. She gave her teammate a thankful smile and hoped she hadn’t seen too much.

They walked back towards the bench they had left Jaune on. When he wasn’t there, Ren called out for him. They found him in the center of the park, standing in front of an impressively tall statue.

“Jaune, why didn’t you…” Nora stopped when she noticed who the statue depicted. Pyrrha Nikos towered above them.

Neo stood a few steps behind Ren. For the second time that day she felt like an outsider. Like she was trespassing on something sacred.

It looked like Jaune had been crying. His eyes were red and puffy. “I’m sorry. I’ve been a terrible leader. And a terrible friend. And I…”

Ren cut him off. “Jaune, this has to stop.”

Nora tentatively added, “We heard what you said to Cinder… at Haven.”

Jaune looked to them, then to Neo. She hadn’t known that they heard it too.

Nora continued. “You’re not being fair to yourself We love you! Just like we loved Pyrrha. We’re teammates.” She reached out behind her and grabbed Neo’s arm to pull her into the group proper. “Family.”

“We don’t want to lose you too.” Ren added.

Jaune squeezed his eyes shut, then looked back up at the statue. “I think she knew she wasn’t going to win. That she might not come out alive. But…” he ran his hand across her sash. “…she also knew she was the only one that could try.”

Ren looked at the statue with him. “So she did.”

Nora looked at Jaune. “Maybe we should too. Pyrrha may not be by our side anymore, but we can fight like she is.”

“Then in a way, she will be.” Jaune looked back at his team. A weak smile on his face.

“We should probably head back to the house and check in with the others.” Ren suggested, then turned back towards the road. Nora quickly followed him.

Neo handed Jaune his tea. *For you.*

He thanked her, then took one last look up at the statue. An Atlesian airship passed by overhead, blocking out sections of starlight as it flew.

Pyrrha had been all over the news before and after Beacon. Neo knew what everyone else did about her: that she was beautiful, and strong, and smart, and brave. Neo didn’t need the oversized statue to know she didn’t compare.

This was the girl Jaune had already fallen in love with. This was the girl that died protecting him. There must have been so many layers to what she meant to him.

Neo decided to rebury the feelings that had threatened to surface earlier. She had to ignore them. Now certainly wasn’t the time. And he wouldn’t return them if she told him anyway.

“What you said on the Limited…”

Neo snapped back to reality. *Don’t worry about it. I shouldn’t have brought it up like that.*

Jaune looked down at her. His dark blue eyes seemed more vivid than she remembered. “I wanted to thank you. For calling me out on it. I guess, for a long time, I’ve felt like Ren and Nora lost the wrong teammate that night.”

*No!* Neo grabbed his hand before they headed back to the house. She couldn’t sign while holding her tea, but she squeezed his hand as hard as she could while shaking her head ‘no’ while they walked back.

“Ow, okay! Don’t squeeze so hard!”

She finished her tea and threw it away so she could sign again. “Promise not to say those things about yourself, and I’ll stop.*

Jaune almost smiled again. ”You know what I think?”

*On occasion, yes*

“I think I figured out why you’re still here. I mean you said you were just going to Mistral with us, but. Here we are in Argus, fighting for the greater good for all life on Remnant. On our way to Atlas to secure the relic from the literal embodiment of darkness”

Neo narrowed her eyes and clenched her jaw. *I don’t know what you’re talking about.*

“I think you actually care about people. I think you want to make amends. And I think it’s because - ”

She let go of his hand to cover his mouth. *Shut up, don’t say it!*

Jaune mumbled through her glove. “- you’re a good person.”

*How dare you?* She pretended to be disgusted, but if he was making these kinds of jokes he was starting to feel better, and she was thankful for it.

He winked. “I won’t tell anyone.”

A Knight and a Scoundrel

Chapter 7.3: Forever Fall

Weiss Schnee

By the time everyone had returned to the house Oscar had found them again. It turned out he was just out getting new clothes and giving everyone some time to themselves. Jaune apologized profusely but it seemed like Oscar understood.

The dinner he had tried to make for everyone nearly burned, but Saphron and Terra saved it just in time. Everyone else had been too busy watching Ruby fight for Jaune’s criminal idea into Atlas.

Weiss had been terrified to see Ruby stand up to her uncle like that. Any time she had tried to stand up to her father, it always ended poorly. Violently. To see Ruby do it with such conviction; it was inspiring.

But Qrow wasn’t upset. Not really. He seemed, proud in a way. He smirked approvingly and sat down with Maria in the living room.  
  
The Cotta-Arc home was small. Much smaller than anywhere Weiss had stayed before. Even the house in Mistral was bigger. But what it lacked in size, it made up for it in hospitality. They all crowded around the living room to talk through Jaune’s plan over dinner.

“The only person they’ll allow past the main gate is Weiss. So, we have to work around that.” Jaune turned to look at her directly, “If you tell them you’re returning home alone, they’ll set up an airship just for you. That’s when we sneak in a pilot to hijack the ship mid-flight. I doubt they’ll check your carry-on.”

Neo’s eyes were wide, and her smile grew bigger and bigger with each additional phase of the plan. It was a little concerning how easily crime came to those two. She raised her hand at the mention of a pilot.

Blake looked back to their things by the door, then to Neo. “Weiss might have some seriously big luggage, but I don’t think you’ll be able to fit.”

Weiss expected disappointment, but instead it seemed like the girl was happy to finally be too tall for something.

“I could fly that airship.” Maria spoke up next. “It might be a few years since I’ve done something like that, but it’s like riding a bike. You never forget!” That wasn’t very reassuring.

Jaune looked at Weiss, then between the two pilots. “What about both of you, just in case?”

Neo transformed herself into S.O. Cordovin, then into an Atlas pilot’s uniform. *I’ll meet you there.*

“What if something goes wrong? You’ll have to get this right in one shot.” Nora was worried.

Saphron smiled and held up Adrian. “If we come to see you off, and anything goes wrong, no one can resist how cute Adrian is. We can distract them!” That was very true. Weiss agreed. 

Jaune thanked his sister, then continued with the plan. “Once the airship is out of range, you’ll have to kick out any escorts Cordovin gives you. From there, we’ll need to disable the radar for just a few minutes until you can swing back and pick us all up.”

“Do any of you have experience with this kind of tech or sabotage?” Terra asked. She must have been concerned about the communication tower connected to the Atlas military radar. If the tower was damaged, the whole city might panic. And attract Grimm.

Everyone around the room slowly looked at Blake. Her ears perked up when she noticed. “I may have done something similar once. Or twice…”

Yang gave her a smirk and put her hand on her partner’s shoulder. “I’ll give you a lift there.” It was good to see them talking more again.

“The rest of us will be out of the city, waiting for you guys. Once we’re all together, we’ll make our way to Atlas.” Ruby seemed happy with the plan. That made Weiss feel better. There was a lot of risk stealing from Atlas in order to get there. But she trusted her partner.

\---

Once everything was settled, the dishes done, and the plan set, everyone split up through the house. Weiss was halfway up the stairs when she heard Ren and Nora whispering just above her.

“… been so upset lately. When we saw Pyrrha’s statue tonight, I wasn’t sure what he would do.” Nora sounded worried, but Ren calmed her down.

“Jaune’s reaction to her memorial was not what I expected either. I’m glad to see him doing better. And talking about himself more kindly.”  
  
Weiss suddenly needed to give Jaune something that she had forgotten about a long time ago. She quietly retraced her steps and retrieved her suitcase next to the front door. She dug inside until she found her old notebook. She rarely used it anymore, but she hoped it still had what she was looking for in it. After skimming through its pages, she quickly found the one piece of loose paper, took it out, and hurried to find Jaune.

He was sitting outside in his sister’s backyard, hunched over in a lawn chair looking up at the stars. It was rare to find him alone anymore. Someone from his team was usually around. “Oh Weiss! Hey sorry, I thought everyone had gone to bed already. Is everything all right?” He always sounded so sincerely apologetic.

Weiss wasn’t sure how to start. They hadn’t really talked to each other since Beacon. Since he got Neptune to go with her to the dance. Since he had begged her to save Pyrrha the night Beacon fell.

There had been a time when he would have done anything to sit alone with her. And she would have done anything to avoid him. But neither of them was the same person anymore. And he’d just saved her life a few days ago. “Yeah, everything is fine. I’m fine.” She pointed to the chair beside his and asked, “could I join you?”

“Of course!”

They sat in silence for a long time. Past the point of it being awkward. She tried to think of how she would tell him, or even start talking to him. But he started before she had to.

“Are you worried about Atlas? About our plan? We can still change it if you’re not comfortable.” He must have thought that was what was on her mind.

“No, I’m not worried. I mean, I am, but everyone will be right there with me. And Ruby promised it would be okay. I trust her. I trust you. It’s a good plan Jaune”

He smiled. She didn’t think he was used to compliments very often. He seemed to always really appreciate them. “Thank you”, he finally said.

It got quiet again. Weiss turned the folded note over in her hands a few times before bringing it up. “I wanted to talk to you about something. It’s about Pyrrha. Is that okay?”

He shook his head in agreement. “What about… Pyrrha?” It took him a moment to say her name.

“Back at Beacon, she had asked for my help writing something”, Weiss started.

He shifted his seat so he could look right at her.

“She found me in the library one day. She said she knew that I sang and asked if I ever wrote any of my own songs. I thought it was a little odd but went with it. I showed her my notebook that I keep my songs in.” She lifted it up in her other hand, showing it to him. “She wanted to write a poem. She knew what she wanted to say, but not how. And had hoped I could help put it into words. I told her I could try and asked her what she wanted to write about so suddenly.”

Jaune had been nodding along, but the lost look on his face meant he was blind to where the story was going.

She lifted the folded paper. “I just realized tonight that I still had her final version. She gave it to me….”, She paused. Would telling him hurt more or less? She quickly decided the truth was best. “She gave it to me the day before everything happened. She wanted to know what I thought. It’s about you.”

He just stared at her. Stared at the paper in her hands. She understood; she would have been terrified to open it.

So Wiess continued. She wanted to buy him time and thought it might help. 

“We started writing it together in our study time in the library. I would ask her questions and write, and she would talk about what she wanted to say. I don’t think she really needed my help to make it sound nice. I think she mostly wanted to say it out loud and have someone to listen to her thoughts.”

Looking back, it must have been hard for Pyrrha. They both knew Jaune had had a crush on Weiss that first semester. It must have been really difficult to ask for that help. But after what Jaune did for her at the dance, talking to Neptune, she wanted to help them. And once they started going, she realized just how much Pyrrha loved him.

“She told me that the very first time you two met, she knew you were special. You treated her like a normal person. You weren’t afraid of her. I guess, she didn’t get a lot of people like that, it was new to her.”

Jaune gave a quiet chuckle, but his smile stayed when he spoke, “she told me that once. That she really liked how I treated her just like I do everyone else.”

She was glad it was so dark out. The lights of the house were behind them, and she didn’t think he could see her face very well. She didn’t want him to see her get teary. She was the /Ice Queen/, after all.

“She said that you… restored her hope. That you were so brave, and pure, and kind. Always so kind. You really changed her as much as she changed you, Jaune.”  
  
He looked down at his armor. “I really doubt that Weiss.”  
  
“It’s true! She didn’t know if she could really make a difference before. She was talented, but all that got her was fame and put on a box of cereal. You showed her that even one person can make a change. You always keep fighting, Jaune. You always get back up! You gave her hope. She told me so herself.”  
  
If he wasn’t shocked before, he was now. But Weiss wasn’t done yet. She took a moment to collect herself before continuing. “Do you remember that day Professor Goodwitch took us to Forever Fall Forest? We had to collect all of that tree sap? She said that was when she knew. That day she knew. You were cornered by a giant ursa, it was you or the biggest bully in Beacon and you chose to stand and fight. You chose to protect the guy who had been awful to you all semester. You stood up for yourself and him. That was when she knew.”  
  
The dim light shined just enough on his face for her to see him acting shy. “Yeah well, it was a big ursa. What else could I have done? Sure, Cardin is a creep but come on.” He stopped suddenly. “Wait, that was when she knew what?”  
  
“That was when she knew she loved you, you dolt! You saw her in a way no one else did. You opened up to her more than anyone else. She really loved you. And she wanted my help in writing a poem that would help her to tell you that.”  
  
He dropped his gaze. She couldn’t see his tears, but knew they were there. His breathing quickened. “I wish I would have known. I would have done things differently. I knew we were friends. And after she kissed me, I knew she… liked me. But I never knew she loved me…”  
  
“She told me so. She said ‘Weiss, I love that boy. Please help me tell him.’ I told her that I had no idea what she saw in you. Until I did. Seeing you through her, it made a lot of sense.”  
  
Jaune was still crying lightly. “I would have told her. If I knew that day, I would have told her that…” his voice cracked. “…I would have told her that I loved her too. Before she left, I would have told her I fell in love wearing a borrowed dress and red sneakers.”

Weiss looked down at the folded paper. “There are some additions she made that I hadn’t seen yet. It sounded like she knew something might happen to her…”

A light scrapping noise, like metal on metal, suddenly came from behind them. They both jumped and turned to find Qrow standing just inside the back door. His flask was already being returned to his pocket. “Yeah, that was probably Ozpin. He offered her to become the next Fall Maiden. But he told her that the process might combine her with the last maiden. The Pyrrha you knew might have disappeared.”

Weiss was about to yell at him for invading a private conversation, but he looked despondent. Then she remembered Ruby’s mother. If she had the chance to write a final goodbye, would she? Would she have told everyone that she would still love them all, even then? Wiess decided not to yell at Qrow, he had been through enough. “How long have you been here?” she whispered harshly, remembering everyone trying to sleep inside.

Qrow tilted his head to one side, then the other. “I walked in at Jaune wearing a dress and sneakers. You know I pulled off that look once! All on account of Taiyang telling me it was a kilt at the time…”  
  
She worried Jaune would be upset, but he laughed. It was good to hear him laugh for a moment.  
  
She handed Jaune the folded paper. He looked at it, then back at her. “Thank you, so much Weiss. You brought her back, even for just a little while. Thank you.”  
  
“I should have given that to you sooner, I’m so sorry Jaune.”  
  
“No! Now is the perfect time. I think I was meant to see this tonight.” He looked up at the sky again. His cheeks were still streaked from dried tears, but he was smiling. This time a big, happy smile.

Wiess smiled too, got up, and wished Jaune a good night. Then followed Qrow back inside to go to bed. Before she made it to the stairs Qrow stopped her.

“Hey, wait up kiddo.” He looked distracted; like his thoughts were somewhere else. His usual stoic defense was gone. Either too much alcohol or too many sad memories finally let it down. “What did she leave for him?”  
  
“A poem. Or it could be a song?” Wiess replied quietly so as not to alert Jaune or anyone sleeping.  
  
Qrow leaned against the opposite wall. “That’s really nice. Pyrrha was a great girl.” He sighed and closed his eyes. “It got a name, then?”

Weiss smiled thinking about the title. It was too good to pass up when they thought of it so long ago in the Beacon library. Pyrrha fell for Jaune in the forest that day. There was only one title for a song like that.

“Forever Fall”  
  


\---

“Weiss?”

She rolled in her sleep, not wanting to wake up yet.

“Weiss?” Ruby stretched out her name this time, and gently shook her.

“What?”

“I’m thirsty. Can I have some water?” Ruby’s voice sounded wretched and pouty.

Weiss groaned and got out of the bed. She left the futon they were sharing and quietly walked down-stairs.

Sneaking through houses in the middle of the night was starting to become a habit. She made her way into the kitchen and filled a glass in the sink. She nearly dropped it on the floor when she turned around and saw Nora just behind her.

“What are you doing up?” The girl asked.

Weiss clutched the glass tighter in her hand. She wanted to yell at her for scaring her so badly, but everyone was still asleep. “Ruby was thirsty!”

Nora looked at the water in her hand, then up to Weiss. “For Ruby? Uh huh.” She grinned before turning around and leaving.

“Well, why are /you/ up?”

Nora pointed to the bathroom.

“Oh.”

They walked out into the living room together. Weiss was about to head upstairs when she noticed the occupants asleep on the couches. Qrow was reclining in a chair like he normally did. But what was surprising were the other two. One couch was empty, while Jaune and Neo were asleep together in the other. Neo was passed out sitting upright on the end, and Jaune had his legs hanging over the other arm so that his head could lay in her lap.

Nora walked up beside her and nodded. “Usually it’s the other way around, and he holds her. But Jaune went through a lot today, it makes sense.” She was acting like this was entirely normal.

“They do this often?” Weiss was starting to put together a few pieces that had been floating around her mind.

Nora cocked one hip. “Every night since we arrived in Mistral. When we were traveling in Anima, the two of them would sneak off into the forest every night too. Come back all sweaty and dirty…”

Weiss blushed a bit. “What! Really?”

“Ruby said they were just training.” Nora looked disappointed. “But I know there’s something more going on. Even if they don’t know it yet.”

Weiss had noticed whenever she was around Jaune that Neo would get defensive. Weiss thought it might have just been that she was an outsider of RNJR, or that she had arrived with Yang, but jealousy made much more sense.

The two of them exchanged glances. The kind that sparked a cooperative scheme.

Without another word they headed back to their beds. The next morning was going to be a big one, and they needed their sleep.

Weiss gave Ruby her water, then got back under their blanket. She supposed everyone had changed a lot in the last year after Beacon. It made sense that Neo would too. Maybe she deserved a second chance.

A Knight and a Scoundrel

Chapter 7.4: All it Takes is Faith, Thrust, and Aerodynamic Lift

Neopolitan

Everyone gathered on the stone steps outside the Cotta-Arc home. If everything went according to plan, they’d be in Atlas in a few hours, and they wanted to say goodbye.

Neo hugged Jaune’s sister and her wife. They had been so kind to her the past two days. She tousled Adrian’s hair and moved towards the side of the porch to let the others through. Neo hopped over the small wall, gave her team a mock salute, and started to head for the military base.

A quick whispered argument erupted behind her. She turned to see Weiss and Blake nudging Yang towards her.

Yang stumbled down the steps and caught Neo before she could leave. “Hey. Can I talk to you? Before you go…”

Neo put her hands on her hips and waited to hear Yang’s next insult.

“I said some stuff at the farm I shouldn’t have. And when I saw you back in Mistral… Look, I’m not good at apologizing. You’re trying to help us. That’s more than a lot of people have done, so…”

*Thank you* Neo didn’t expect Yang to know the sign, but she figured Weiss could translate later. She hurried down the road as she glamoured herself as an Atlesian soldier.

\---

Neo climbed up a slippery assortment of rocks on the far side of the base in order to get a look at the airfield. The cold ocean spray wasn’t helping the situation. She made a mental note of the layout and made her move.

She hopped the wall, hid behind some crates until there was a hole in their patrols, then meandered her way into the airfield. The trick to looking like an Atlesian was to keep your head high, look like you’re more important than everyone, and act like you have the authority to be doing exactly what you need to.

She boarded the only prepared Manta airship and hid in one of the storage lockers.

It wasn’t long until she could hear Adrian crying outside. The kid may have only been a couple years old but his lungs sure were strong.

Weiss climbed aboard dragging Maria in her luggage behind her. “That was close.”

Ruby’s voice came on over their earpieces. “Is everything okay?”

Neo knocked on the locker door once to signal Weiss.

She pushed her luggage against the far wall before replying. “We’re on board.”

Maria was grumbling about something but Neo could barely hear her.

As the Atlesian pilots approached Weiss slapped her hand down on her bag. “Are we finally heading out? I do not wish to keep my father waiting.”

“Yes, miss Schnee! We just received clearance to take off. For your safety, please strap in.”

Neo braced herself against the locker’s frame. If these Atlesian pilots were good, it wouldn’t be too rough of a takeoff.

The ship slowly rose into the air before shifting north. Neo could just see Weiss checking her phone for the others’ signals. When they finally disappeared, she gave Neo a nod, pulled her rapier from its case at her feet, and stood up.

“For your own safety, please remain seated.” The first guard wasn’t suspicious. Yet. Not until Neo erupted from the locker and pulled him from the controls.

They weren’t hard to put down at all. A few kicks and bolts of dust knocked them down pretty quickly.

Neo took control of the airship while Weiss glyphed the pilots together and threw them out of the door, parachute in hand.

Manta controls were pretty standard. The flight stick controlled pitch and roll while the foot pedals controlled the ship’s yaw. All of the instruments looked understandable.

Weiss unzipped her luggage and let Maria loose. “Finally! Do you have any idea what that was doing to my back?” The old huntress walked into the cockpit and stopped next to Neo. “Oh no you don’t! I’m piloting this thing.”

Neo gestured that she was already sitting in the pilot’s chair.

“Well, move over!” Maria pushed her aside and took her seat.

Neo sat in the co-pilot’s seat, making the adjustments Maria ignored.

“Maybe airships have gotten a little more complicated since my day, but would you stop tinkering with the controls and let me fly?”

Neo looked at the woman, then back at the controls. She adjusted the fuel inlets to the engines before Maria could slap her hand away.

Weiss stood between their chairs peering into the cockpit. “…and you’re sure you can fly this?”

“Missy, I was the Grimm Reaper! What part of ‘Best Huntress of her Generation’ don’t you understand?”

Weiss looked to Neo, then back to Maria. “Right, but… your eyes?”

Maria laughed then inserted a sensor array chip from the console to her goggles. “You were saying?”

Weiss continued. “That you said your eyes were in desperate need of repair!”

Maria, cut her off “Up up up up!”

Weiss let them be and sat behind them. Neo could hear her click in her seatbelt

Maria turned the Manta back around towards the cliffside they would meet Ruby and the others at. It was quiet at first, until the radio came back online. 

“Uh, Manta 5-1, this is Argus base. We see you’ve circled back. What’s your status, over?”

Weiss called out. “Why can they see us?”

Maria picked up the radio receiver. “Someone dropped the ball. Don’t worry, I’ve worked with Atlas forces before. I know their jargon” She gave Neo a grin, but it didn’t make her feel any better.

“Argus base, this is Manta 5-1. Feel free to gaff off. Thought we were going to scrub due to FOD but we’re back up and green across the board, over.” She looked pleased with herself. 

“Manta 5-1 return to base immediately, or you will be treated as hostile, over.”

“I thought you said you knew their jargon!” Weiss shouted from the passenger compartment.

“Jargon was fine, but our pilots aren’t elderly women.”

Maria shrugged. “Whelp, they got me there! My mind really is going. Why would you kids let me fly this thing?”

Frustrated, Neo squeezed her seat cushion as hard as she could. She would be happy to be the one flying the airship!

Cordovin’s voice came over the radio. “Calavera! You and those insolent children are up to something, aren’t you? You thought you could undermine /my/ authority? If you don’t return my ship this instant, I will make an example out of you! I will show you the true might of Atlas.”

Maria pulled a bag from her coat and started loudly chewing on cashews into the microphone. “You hear that Cordo? That’s the sound of /me not caring!/” She laughed a bit too manically. 

Neo took back her first thoughts on Maria. The cashews weren't the only nuts aboard the airship.

Weiss called her partner. “Ruby we’re in trouble. Cordo is onto us and Maria isn’t helping! Why is the radar still up?”

“We don’t know. Blake isn’t responding.” Ruby sounded worried as she tried to coordinate the three groups.

Yang’s voice came over their comms next. “Keep the ship in one piece.” Her motorcycle’s engine started just before her line went silent. 

Maria followed the shoreline back to where they were supposed to meet Ruby. But outside the airship, they could just make out the military base. And Cordovin.

Weiss called the group again. “Guys? She’s not sending fighters…” She stared out the side window as a massive robotic suit made its way through the shallow water towards them, a rotating cannon strapped to its right arm.

Cordovin came back on the radio. “Clearly the people of Argus have forgotten that they live in peace thanks to the awesome might of Atlas. Consider this a reminder!”

The robot’s right arm raised up and aimed directly for the airship. An incredible amount of lightning dust erupted out of the barrel and arced through the sky. Maria tried to evade it but wasn’t quick enough. Anything touching the ship’s hull caught an electric shock. Including its passengers.

“Are you two okay?” Weiss asked from her harness.

Maria tried to clear her vision as her eyes readjusted. “We are. But /she’s/ clearly lost her mind!”

“And that was only a warning shot! All Atlas personnel, standby and watch how your leader maintains order.” The giant robot marched closer and closer down the coast. “It’s time you asked yourselves, children, do you truly wish to defy me?”

Ruby suddenly came back on their comms. This time more determined than ever. “Hurry back Weiss. I need you on the ground if We’re gonna take this thing down.”

“You’re joking right? You want to fight this thing?” Weiss was shouting into her scroll.

“We’ve fought giant monsters before. This is just a tiny old lady.” Ruby’s voice began to trail off.’ …with one very big robot.”

Cordovin raised the cannon again, this time launching a seeking missile at the airship.

Neo lunged forward and activated the ship’s flares. The missile exploded behind them, rocking the ship forward.

Maria pushed Neo back into her seat. “I told you to stop tinkering!”

Weiss bolted into the cockpit as Cordovin aimed her cannon at their teams on the ground. “Dive!”

Maria rushed the ship to the ground with just enough time for Weiss to jump out and erect a pillar of stone to protect everyone. A blast of ice dust covered the stone wall.

Oscar looked up at Weiss, “That was close.”

Ruby gave her partner a thankful smile, then turned to the group. “We need to figure out how to stop Cordovin and protect the airship until we do.”

Jaune immediately turned into planning mode. “Let’s give her more targets to focus on.”

Nora slumped against the stone pillar. “You mean us, don’t you?”

Jaune pointed up at the robot. “Look at that thing. It’s not designed for small enemies. It’s probably meant for giant Grimm that come in from deeper waters. We can turn our size into an advantage. We just have to be smart.” Neo loved watching Jaune start to make a plan. She could almost imagine the little gears turning in his mind.

“Maria, Neo, can you keep the ship out of harm’s way?” Ruby looked up at them.

Maria waved at the young huntress. “They can take my driver’s license, but I won’t let them take this ship!”

Neo rested her head in her hands. This woman would be the death of her.

Oscar spoke up. “I’ll be more useful if I go with them. From up high I can spot a weakness.”

“He’s not the only one that can grab a bird’s eye view.” Qrow added.

Weiss looked to Ruby. “You said you needed me on the ground?”

Ruby smiled then got shy. “Not exactly…”

\---

Each group split up in a different direction. Jaune, Ren, and Nora ran back up the coast while Maria launched the ship in the opposite way. Qrow transformed and flew straight up while Ruby and Weiss headed towards the robot via frozen pieces of sea water.

It seemed like they might be able to make some headway before Cordovin activated her hard-light shields. Nora’s grenades bounced off or exploded on its surface.

“Surely you knew atlas was the father of hard-light dust, or do lesser kingdoms simply lack proper education?”

Jaune opened their comms. “Cordo just activated shields!”

Oscar answered from the passenger bay. “I saw that. We need to find whatever is generating it!”

Ruby chimed in. “You know in videogames; the weak spot is usually on the back of the giant boss…”

“Ruby, this isn’t a game!” Weiss called after her partner as they evaded the robot’s footsteps.

“I’m just trying to – look out!” Ruby’s voice cut out.

Maria continued to circle above while the others fought below. Neo wished she could do more than watch, even with Hush mostly destroyed. She felt useless, not even being able to pilot the ship.

Weiss and Ruby escaped Cordovin’s next attack on the back of Wiess’s Queen Lancer summon. Meanwhile, Jaune and Nora tried to get the Special Operative’s attention so that Ren and Qrow could take out her shield generator. With that gone, they really had a fighting chance.

Without the hard-light, though, Nora’s next volley of grenades attracted more attention. Cordovin swatted at Nora with her left hand. Jaune ran to her just in time to share their auras.

Neo pressed herself against the window trying to get a closer look, desperate to see if they were okay. Maria circled back around soon enough for her to catch a glimpse of their auras flickering. But not broken. Neo let out the breath she didn’t realize she had been holding.

But the battle only got worse. Cordovin blasted a gale of wind dust at Weiss’ summon, knocking it out of the sky and sending all of its passengers hurdling towards the cliffs. The others made it onto dry land, but Ruby didn’t. She dug Crescent Rose into the cliff wall and hung by her weapon.

Cordovin began to advance towards her. Aiming her cannon at Ruby alone.

Maria pushed the flight stick forward and dove straight for the robot. Neo had to catch Oscar before he went flying to the back of the ship. Maria launched a missile at the woman, trying to distract her, but Cordovin caught it in the air and threw it back at the airship.

Maria regained shaky control as Ruby climbed back onto the cliff. They were just fighting to stay on their feet at this point.

Oscar opened their comms again. “Ruby, are you okay?”

“Are we okay? What about you?” She argued.

“I know we were supposed to lay low but listen. I think I found a weakness. The cylinder on Cordo’s cannon rotates and locks in a giant dust cartridge every time she changes attack styles.”

Weiss shot a quick response back at Oscar. “We noticed.”

“Right, but her missile launcher doesn’t lock in, it pops out. Without her shields, one well-placed shot could detonate the missiles while they’re still in the launcher!”

“We could destroy the entire cannon. Oscar that’s brilliant!” Jaune complimented the boy.

Nora turned to Ruby. “Can you make that kind of shot?”

“We’ll only get one chance before she catches on. I’d have to be practically staring down her cannon.”

Maria smiled as she brought down the airship in front of Ruby. “Well, I’ve got a way to guarantee that!”

Ruby nodded to the woman and boarded the airship. She set up her rifle just outside the main hatch. Qrow looked like he had wanted to stop her but Ruby either didn’t notice or tried to ignore him.

Neo clung onto the crash seat with white knuckles as Maria goaded Cordovin into attacking. “Hey cordo! I’ve got /one/ missile left, and I know exactly where I’m going to stick it!’

Cordo laughed. “One missile you say? That’s a shame Maria because I have plenty!” The robot readied its weapon and pointed it directly at them.

Oscar shouted from his seat behind them. “Are you two crazy?” Neo wanted to agree with him that yes, the older women were indeed insane.

Maria opened the engine intakes and accelerated towards the robot. “Sometimes the best approach is simply the most direct!”

Ruby steadied herself as she hung out of the airship. She took a deep breath and took her shot, but Cordovin closed the missile launcher just in time so the bullet ricocheted off of its housing. She readied the cannon for another dust attack.

“You thought you could fool me?” The cannon started collecting bright yellow light.

Another lightning attack arced through the sky and this time the airship took a direct hit. The shock was a dozen times worse than the first one. Neo could feel her aura drain dangerously low.

The ship started to lurch downward. Oscar was helping Ruby get into a crash seat. And Maria was trying her best to level out the aircraft with her eyes completely dark.

Neo flipped on the co-pilot controls, dampened the thrusters, and tried to pull them out of their dive. She barely managed to get their nose up with enough time to miss the cliffside. She weaved past a few trees before the ship entered a thick forest. She hoped the frame was strong enough to withstand their crash landing.

The nose of the ship dug into the ground and the wings smashed through pine trees as Neo was thrown from her seat.

\---

Yang and Weiss were screaming out for Ruby, then a bright blinding light filled the inside of the airship. Even through closed eyes it stung.

Then everything went quiet. Neo looked up to see Ruby climbing aboard the ship from Weiss’s Queen Lancer.

Everyone seemed happy and excited. They must have won.

Jaune was sitting over her, cradling her head through the ship’s turbulence. “Hey, you’re awake! Take it easy, we’re all okay.”

*What happened?*

Weiss answered. “Ruby turned the entire Leviathan Grimm to stone!”

*Grimm?*

Jaune shook his head and smiled. “A lot happened after you saved the ship. You crashed into the forest, Ruby destroyed Cordo’s cannon, and she took out the Grimm attacking the city. We’re in the clear, now Maria is flying us to Atlas.”

Neo wanted to object but she felt dizzy. All of her training with Jaune to improve her aura hadn’t done much yet.

She leaned against him and watched the clouds pass through the windows. The last time she left Argus, it was on an airship too. Roman had started her life on a new path. But this ship was pointed in an entirely different direction. 


End file.
